









\ 






.*' 



"°o 



vc,' 












^^: ^0 



^k^^^ 



"o V^ 



■.-^S^: 






^"vj 






.'i^^ c^- 



; "^k^,-- 




/"^z^---?^^'/ yUy^rz^c^L^ 



HISTORY 



OF 



KENNEBUNK 



FROM ITS 



EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1890. 



INCLUDING 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



BY 



DANIEL REMICH. 






4 



CiTU^f Z 



Copyriglit, 1911, 

by 

Carrie E. Remich and Walter L Dane, Trustees. 



©CI.A207-S80 



PREFACE. 

The original plan of Mr. Remich in writing this History of 
Kennebunk was to take up the noteworthy events of our town after 
its separation from Wells in 1820, and so continue the History of 
Wells and Kennebunk by Edward E. Bourne ; but after due consid- 
eration of the subject it seemed essential to him to go back to its 
early settlement in. order that the reader might be able to trace the 
growth of the town, in sequence, since the days when the first white 
man landed upon our shores, thus necessarily covering much of the 
ground already gone over by Judge Bourne. He spared neither 
time nor money in gaining access to old records, deeds, files of 
papers, etc., to obtain the desired information and his remarkable 
memory served him well in many instances. He was always greatly 
interested in historical research and he devoted the most of his time 
the latter part of his life to this work ; it was purely a pastime with 
him, as he never expected to receive any reward for his labors other 
than the benefit which he might sometime be able to impart to 
others. Laboring under difficulties at times, he toiled on with his 
compilation, hoping to be able to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. 
When he finally had a certain amount of material in hand he under- 
took to have it published, thinking that he could keep in advance 
of the publishers in putting it together properly, making any neces- 
sary alterations and filling in dates and various omissions that had 
occurred, but his disappointment was great to discover, after having 
carefully corrected the proof himself, that the company which he had 
engaged to do the printing had overlooked many of his directions 
and as a result the pages that were printed were so filled with errors 
that he became utterly discouraged and consequently withdrew it. 
Not long after his health began to fail so he did not make another 
attempt to have it published. It is greatly to be regretted that he 
was unable to accomplish his long cherished desire. Mr. Remich 
passed away the thirtieth of May, 1892. It was his wish that if his 
History of Kennebunk was found to be sufficiently completed for 
publication, that it be left to his executors to see that it was properly 
attended to ; accordingly, in due time, several chapters of the manu- 
script were passed over to one of the executors, Mr. E. P. Burnham, 



of Saco, but he was unable to give it the necessary attention so we 
were obliged to abandon the idea of expecting assistance in that 
direction. From time to time several further attempts were made 
to have the subject matter prepared for publication, but for various 
reasons they proved unsatisfactory, resulting in repeated delays. 

I had long felt that perhaps it was my duty to prepare my 
father's historical work for the press, so far as I had the ability, and 
had come to realize that I must at least make the endeavor; accord- 
ingly I turned to the original manuscript, casting all recent copies 
one side, rearranged and classified the chapters, cut out many repeti- 
tions, filled in dates and other omissions when they could be ascer- 
tained with certainty, made what corrections seemed necessary and 
supplied several chapters from addresses and various other of his 
writings, as was his intention to have done. It should be under- 
stood, however, that in making these corrections I have not assumed, 
in any case, to change the facts, but have ever kept in mind his 
request that nothing be added to or taken from the text. This has 
been an exceedingly laborious task, inasmuch as the manuscript had 
become thoroughly mixed, there being no expectation of having any 
further use for it after the copy was made, thus adding to the many 
difficulties that had previously arisen. I have also affixed an index 
in which I have essayed to make note of every item of importance 
as well as of persons and places mentioned in this volume. We are 
under obligations to Messrs. Albion and Harry T. Burbank, of Exeter, 
New Hampshire, for valuable assistance in correcting the proof. 

Now that we are to present this History of Kennebunk for dis- 
tribution, we desire to tender our sincere thanks to the citizens of 
the town who have borne so patiently with us for having unavoidably 
withheld this work from the public so long. 

Carrie E. Remich. 
December, 19 lo. 



CONTENTS. 



Part First. 

Chapter I. 



Preliminary. 



Chapter II. 
1641-1660. — Early grants. — Early settlers. 

Chapter III. 
1 660-1 674. — Boundary line between Wells and Cape Porpus (after- 
ward Arundel, now Kennebunkport) established. 

Chapter IV. 
1669-1684. — The first mills erected in 1669. — The hardships of the 
builder. — His death. — His property held by mortgagees. — Their 
operations. 

Chapter V. 
1680-1700. — Kennebunk River Mills, Mills at Mousam, Great Falls 
and Little River. — Coxhall. — Grants on or near Mousam, Ken- 
nebunk and Little Rivers. 

Chapter VI. 
1 700-1 7 50. — The condition of the territory. — Proposed cession of 
a part of it to Coxhall. — The Larrabees. — Larrabee Village. 

Chapter VII. 
1706-1750. — Wadleigh's Indian deed. — Great Falls and Village 
grants and mills. — Major Phillips' grant. — Kennebunk Mills. 
— The Kimball family. — Peabody family. 



Chapter VIII. 
The Proprietary. — Division of the "common and undivided lands." 
— Grants on and near Kennebunk River ; on and near Little 
River; on and near Rankin's and Alewive Brooks. — 17 19-1750. 

Chapter IX. 
1720-1750. — Land grants on the Mousam River. — "Cat Mousam " 
Mills. — Saw-mills on Alewive Brook. 

Chapter X. 
Kennebunk as it was in 1750. 

Chapter XL 
Harriseeket, the Village, Cat Mousam and Day's School Districts. 

Chapter XII. 
The prosperity of Kennebunk dating from 1750. — Grants of land in 
Alewive. — Ross Road. — Hart's Beach Road. — The Village 
Bridge and road therefrom, — The Mill Yard and Triangle. 

Chapter XIIL 
" The times that tried men's souls." 

Chapter XIV. 
Roads. 

Chapter XV. 
Shipbuilding on the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers. — Kennebunk 
Iron Works. 

Chapter XVI. 
The Judicial Courts. 

Chapter XVII. 
Miscellaneous items of interest concerning "Ye olden time" and 
people collected from various sources. 

Chapter XVIII. 
The Newspaper Press. 



Chapter XIX. 
Noteworthy incidents in Kennebunk and vicinity from 1809 to 1820, 
compiled from the columns of the IVeekly Visiter. 

Chapter XX. 
Town history gleaned from advertising columns, industries and 
business memoranda, 1809-1820. 

Chapter XXI. 
The War of 181 2-' 15. — "The Horse Marine." — President Monroe 
in Kennebunk. — The Cavalry Company. — The Artillery Com- 
pany. 

Chapter XXII. 
" Cochranism." 



Part Second. 

Chapter I. 
Separation of the District of Maine from the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. — Division of the town of Wells. — Incorpora- 
tion of the town of Kennebunk. 

Chapter II. 
Political, 1821-1840. 

Chapter III. 
Ecclesiastical. 

Chapter IV. 
Residents and Buildings. — Main, Storer and Fletcher Streets, 
1820-1890. 

Chapter V. 
Residents and Buildings continued. — Dane, Elm, Park and 
Summer Streets. 

Chapter VI. 
Manufacturing Companies, 1823-1842. — The Mousam Navigation 
Company. 



VIII CONTENTS. 

Chapter VII. 
Shipbuilding, 1820-1SS2. — The Lock. — Marine Items. — The Sea 
Serpent. 

Chapter VIII. 
The Piers. — The Granite Speculation. 

Chapter IX. 
The Mails.— P. S. & P. Railroad. 

Chapter X. 
Business Directory of Kennebunk in 1S20. — Advertising Columns 
from 1S20 to 1842. 

Chapter XI. 
Early method of going to market. — Mousam River Legend. — The 
Tornado. — Cultivation of Hemp. — Census of 1830. — Meteoric 
Shower. — The Slide. — Orthography of the word "Mousam" 
and other miscellaneous items of interest dating from 1820 
to 1843. 

Chapter XII. 
The Social Library. — Literary Society. — Lyceums. — Temperance. 

Chapter XIII. 
The Fire Society. 

Chapter XIV. 
General Lafayette. — President Jackson. — York Lodge of Free 
and Accepted Masons. — Military Reviews. — Fourth of July 
Celebrations. 

Chapter XV. 
Schools, 

Chapter XVI. 
The Civil War. 

Chapter XVII. 
Biographical and Anecdotal. 



History of Kennebunk. 



CHAPTER I. 

PRELIMINARY. 



[The territory now known as the town of Kennebunk, for nearly 
a century after the first white settler upon it had located himself and 
family, received but few accessions to its population, and, notwith- 
standing the many facilities it offered to the farmer and mill-man, 
was almost entirely neglected by persons seeking grants of land. 
It is attempted in this chapter, which is chiefly a compilation, to 
answer the natural query — "Why was it thus disregarded?" Such 
of the events in the early history of the Province of Maine, during 
this period, as influenced the condition of our township, directly or 
indirectly, are narrated as briefly as practicable, omitting all details 
that do not appear to be required for the attainment of the desired 
object. It will be found that, while the frequent changes of govern- 
ment and policy in the mother country, and the varying fortunes of 
Gorges, which were mainly attributable to these changes, injuriously 
affected the prosperity of all the towns, the carelessness or dishon- 
esty of the Plymouth Council in issuing the Dye Patent — which was 
clearly an infringement on the grant to Gorges — and the conflicting 
claims that grew out of this procedure, bore directly upon the strip 
of territory under consideration, and very naturally produced feel- 
ings of uncertainty as to the validity of any title to its acres that 
could be acquired.^ It will be understood, therefore, that it has not 
been the aim of the compiler to prepare a historical sketch of the 
country (which at this day, for obvious reasons, would be entirely 
superfluous), but simply to furnish the readers of the succeeding 
chapters with a collection of facts elucidative of the text, which, it is 
believed, will be found of value as a handy reference.] 

^ Besides the complications and doubt-inspiring movements here referred to, 
were the boundary troubles between Wells and Kennebunkport, and the claim of 
John Wadleigh, founded on a conveyance by an Indian sagamore, both of which 
will be noticed in chronological order as our history proceeds. 



L HISTORY OF KKNNEBUNK. 

The history of Maine commences with the opening of the six- 
teenth century. The Cabots, it is true, in 1497, discovered the 
coast of Labrador, or Newfoundland, thence sailed as far south as 
Maine, and possibly Massachusetts, and upon these discoveries 
England founded her claim to this part of North America ; again, in 
1524, John Verazzano, in the service of France, proceeded along 
the coast from the thirty-fourth to near the fiftieth degree of north 
latitude, "keeping the coast of Maine in sight for fifty leagues," 
and on the discoveries made during this voyage France grounded 
its claim to North American territory; a little later, Gomez, a 
Spanish adventurer, passed in view of the coast from Newfoundland 
to the capes of the Delaware, and it is not improbable that other 
European navigators traversed the same route before the close of 
the fifteenth century, but it was not until the period above named, 
"when the thirst for discovery was fully enkindled, and colonization 
efforts were more seriously entertained " by the commercial nations 
of Europe, that we find evidence that the coast of Maine was 
especially observed, or its territories sought with the object of 
colonization. 

In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold left an English port in a small 
vessel with thirty-two men, and made the coast of Maine and New 
Hampshire in forty-nine days. There are reasons for the supposi- 
tion that the " Northland," mentioned in his narrative of the voyage, 
was Cape Porpoise, and "Savage Rock," the Nubble, near Cape 
Neddock.^ It does not appear that he landed in this vicinity. The 
favorable desciiption of the country made by Gosnold, after his 
return, led to further expeditions for its exploration, among which 
was that of Martin Pring, in 1603, who "went a short distance up 
Kennebunk river," finding no people, but signs of fires where they 
had been.- 

In 1604 Sieur de Monts, while in pursuit of a favorable loca- 
tion for the founding of a French colony, under a patent granted to 
him by Henry the Fourth of France (1603), which embraced the 
entire territory from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north 
latitude, and included " the whole of our present New England," . . . 
"undertook a voyage of discovery" in a pinnace of fifteen tons, 
which he had built at the Island of St. Croix (in Passamaquoddy 
Bay), "the firstling, probably, of our American marine." He was 

' Bradbury's " History of Kennebunkport," printed by James K. Remich, 1837. 
■^ Pring's visit was made in the summer, and the natives were undoubtedly up 
the rivers Kennebunk and Mousam at the time, looking after their traps, etc. 



HISTORY OF KENNEI5UNK, 6 

accompanied by Samuel Champlain, "the chronicler of the voyage, 
the master of the pinnace, and a crew of about twenty sailors and 
soldiers." ^ The voyage was prosperous, and in Maine they found 
the natives friendly. They landed at Richman's Island, near Casco 
Bay, at Chouahouet, now Saco, and at Cape Porpoise, named by 
Champlain Le Fort aux Isles (the Port of the Isles),- "and here 
they were charmed by the glad song of infinite numbers of black- 
birds and bobolinks, and thence to the Kennebunk River, where 
they were astonished with immense flocks of turtle-doves, or wild 
pigeons." They left Cape Porpoise the fifteenth day of July, 1605, 
and proceeded "twelve leagues toward the south, along the beaches 
of Maine and New Hampshire." George Weymouth, the English 
navigator, it is said, preceded de Monts only a few days, or a few 
weeks at farthest, in this examination of our coast.^ 

'The quotations in this paragraph are from the first ehapt<-r of the "Isles of 
Shoals," hy .John .Sc-ribner Jeiiness, 187;!, and the reniainUer of the paragraph is a 
condensation of the narrative therein given. 

- Cape Porpoise Is formed by a cluster of fifteen islands, viz. : Folly, Goat, Green, 
Trott's, Vaughan's (foi-merly Long), Stage, Fort, Cape or East, Rcddlng's, Eagle 
(known also as Bass and Cherry), Milk, Neck or Biekford's, Savan, Bush and Cedar. 
West of these, and w-ithout the cluster, is Bunkin Island. Bradbury says Htage 
Island was prol)abIy the first land granted in the present town of Kennebnnkport, 
and that the earliest settlers—" perhaps as early as 1G20"— seated themselves there. 
The first burylng-place in the town was on this island. It contains about fifteen 
acres, and " there are marks of cultivation on every part of it." Stage Included, 
pei-liaps a century ago, what is now called P'ort Island, but the soil has been 
washed away by the action of the sea, so that now at low water there are two 
islands, of which Stage is much the largei". 

■'The author of the " Isles of Shoals "is of the opinion, based on the evidence 
furnished in Folsom's " Early Documents Relating to Maine," tliat Gorges and 
Mason visited the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire In or about 1019, and that 
" there is reason to believe " that they landed on the Isles of Shoals during this 
voyage, and also that Gorges had then " been for several years a merchant-adven- 
turer to our coasts," but well-settled facts show conclusively that this impression 
is erroneous. In 1019, "Vines, in the employ of Gorges, had made several trips to 
the waters of the Saco, and had established a colony there which was flourishing 
and receiving accessions yearly. If Gorges had been in this vicinity at the time 
above named, it can hardly be doubted that he would have sought the whereabouts 
of Vines, called upon him, and made some inquiries, at least, respecting the con- 
dition and prospects of the colony planted under his own direction and with 
means he had provided. If the date of this conjectured voyage had been some 
ten or fifteen years earlier, it would be exceedingly pleasant to accept the state- 
ment under consideration, and to adopt the idea that might be based upon it,— 
that in his early manhood, while sailing along our shores, discerning the noble 
forests, the mouths of its many rivers, and the possibilities of a territory so won- 
derfully fitted by Nature to become the dwelling-place of a numerous and power- 
ful people, the colonization scheme had its inception in the mind of the ambitious 
Gorges, followed by visions of colonies, of a government in imitation of the splen- 
did monarchies of Europe, of which he sliould be the absolute ruler, and hence 
his years of untiring effort, of sacrifice and embarrassment, all destined to bo un- 
rewarded and fruitless;— all this, however, is simply mythical. Fate ordained 
that even the poor pi-ivilege should be denied him of impressing with his footstep 
any portion of.the soil whereon he wouUl have reared his gorgeous civil and 
ecclesiastical edifice. 



4 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

In 1606 King James the First of England granted patents to 
two companies, the London and the Plymouth, with all the requisite 
privileges and powers for planting colonies which were to be gov- 
erned for the king and by a council of his appointment. To the 
first-named was assigned the territory extending from the thirty- 
fourth to the forty-first degree of north latitude, with a breadth of 
fifty miles inland, and to the Plymouth, the territory lying between 
the thirty-eighth and forry-sixth parallels of latitude and with the 
same breadth inland. The two companies, soon after obtaining 
their charters, fitted out vessels with colonists, to explore and plant 
settlements in their' respective territories; the former (December, 
1606), three ships and one hundred and five colonists, the expedition 
resulting in the settlement at Jamestown, Va.; the latter (May, 
1607), three ships and one hundred settlers. This expedition, how- 
ever, proved unfortunate. A colony called the Sagadahock Colony 
was formed at the mouth of the Kennebec River (August, 1607), 
but the severe winter that followed, and self-imposed troubles with 
the natives, led to the abandonment of the enterprise and the return 
of the colonists after a sojourn of less than twelve months. This 
mishap dampened the ardor of the company, and for a time the 
voyages to our coast were confined " to objects of fishing and trafiic 
with the natives." This state of inactivity, however, did not long 
continue. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, although his name does not 
appear on the list of patentees, was prominent and the most active 
in promoting the interests of the Plymouth Company. Among those 
whom he engaged in its service was Capt. John Smith, so famous 
in history, who had recently returned from his voyage to our coast 
(1614-15).^ His labors, however, were not attended with any 
marked results. Through the agency of Gorges, Richard Vines and 
his company visited this coast (1616-17), entered the Saco River 
(which Vines had visited six years before), and camped at Winter 
Harbor through a winter.^ Very little is known concerning these 
colonists. They were probably employed, during the warm season, 
in trading and fishing along the coast from the Penobscot to the 
Piscataqua. 

'During this voyage Captain Smitli gave tlie name which it still bears. New 
England, to the country described in the patent to the Plymouth Company, whicli 
to that time had been known as North Virginia. 

2 " Having explored all the points along the shores of Saco Bay, they selected a 
spot in lower Biddeford, on the west side of the Pool, a portion of land extending 
out into the water [since] known as Leighton's Point. Here Captain Vines erected 
a log cabin, built in it a wide fireplace and chimney from the stones gathered on 
the beach, thatched it with long grass gathered from the marsh, and spread for a 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. O 

There is no record of any permanent settlement made by them. 
It is generally supposed that all of them returned to England with 
Vines, after a year's sojourn here. Vines reported on his return 
that a "great part of New England was almost depopulated by war 
and pestilence," so that "the country was in a manner left void of 
inhabitants." It was afterward ascertained that a frightful epidemic 
had prevailed from 1613 to 1617, and perhaps later, from the Penob- 
scot River to Narragansett Bay. The nature of this terrible disease 
has never been ascertained. It is a remarkable fact that although 
they were living in the midst of it, not one of Vines' company was 
attacked by this mysterious and virulent disorder. 

On the third day of November, 1620, James the First granted a 
new incorporation to a company of forty persons, with the title of 
the " Council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon 
(England), for the planting, ordering, ruling and governing of New 
England, in America," embracing all the territory now occupied by 
the New England States. " It was empowered to hold territory in 
America, extending westward from sea to sea, and in breadth from 
the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north latitude." From 
this council, in 1622, Gorges and Capt. John Mason, a man who 
had held important public trusts, and who was both experienced and 
energetic, obtained a grant of the country "bounded by the Merri- 
mac, the Kennebec, the ocean and the River of Canada." To this 
territory they gave the name of Laconia.^ Under this grant Gorges 
continued the work of the settlement of the territory with renewed 

carpet the fragrant l)oaghs of the hemlock. This was the llrst habitation of civi- 
lized man upon the shores of Saco Bay, and our adventurers had no English 

neight>ors nearer than Jamestown, Virginia The Englishmen made 

themselves a secure shelter. Their vessel in which their supplies were kept was 
anchored in the Pool, and the abundance of game and fish made their circum- 
stances, to lovers of adventure, all that could be desired. . . . This was several 
years before the settlement of Massachusetts by the Puritans." — SAorfis 0/ Saco 
Bay, Maine, p. 105; — an interesting historical sketch and guide, by J. S. Locke, 
Boston, 1880. 

' Was this merely a fancy name, adopted because it was smooth and pleasant, 
as well as easily pronounced, or was it Jidopted because it was thought the geo- 
graphical features of the territory granted by this patent were somewhat like 
those of the Laconia so celebrated "in story and song"? Within its boundaries 
the mountains have reminders, and perhaps in our valleys and plains, rocky 
coasts and prominent capes, a similarity might have been observed, which, In 
connection with the taciturn, "stern, rude, cruel and narrow-minded" traits of 
character that alike distinguished the Indian tribes who were dwellers here and 
the old Spartan, presented points of resemblance sufficiently strong to warrant 
the transferring of the name of an ancient and famous province of classic Greece 
to a province in the new world that had no written history, no legends even, on 
which to base more than bare conjecture In regard to the savage race by which It 
was sparsely inhabited. 



6 HISIORV OF KENNEBUNK. 

energy. " He was now better prepared to prosecute the undertaking 
than ever before. From his previous unsuccessful attempts in this 
direction, he had derived information which enabled him better to 
understand the value of the grants as well as the means necessary to 
be employed to render his labors successful." It is evident that he 
had determined to concentrate his energies on that part of the grant 
lying east of the Piscataqua, and between the years 1622 and 1629, 
permanent settlements were formed at York, Wells, Cape Porpoise 
and Saco. By mutual agreement, in 1629, Mason and Gorges 
divided their grant, Gorges taking all that portion of it lying east of 
the Piscataqua, and Mason that lying between the Piscataqua and 
Merrimac. 

In 1630 Sir Ferdinando sent over Edward Godfrey and others to 
look after his interests on the east side of the Piscataqua. Immedi- 
ately after his arrival on our shores, Godfrey proceeded to Agamen- 
ticus (now York), where he erected a dwelling-house, and was the 
founder of the town. This fact appears to be well established. In 
1654, in a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts, Godfrey 
states that he has been " twenty-four years an inhabitant of Aga- 
menticus, and was the first who ever built or settled there." ^ 

The Council granted to John Dye and others (1630) forty miles 
square or sixteen hundred square miles, between Cape Porpoise and 
Cape Elizabeth, known as the Lygonia or Plough patent. Attempts 
were made at settlement under this patent, but so many obstacles 
were encountered that the project seems to have been abandoned by 
the patentees. In the same year (1630), Vines, Oldham and two 
others obtained from the Council a grant of "four miles in breadth 
on the seashore and extending eight miles into the country, on the 
west side of Saco River." Vines took possession of this territory in 
June, and several families that came over with him settled at Little 
River within the present limits of Kennebunkport.^ Both these 

' For seven years after the first voyage (161t>-17) of Captain Vines, he with others 
was engaged in transporting colonists to this coast, and settlements were made 
along the shores of Saco Bay at several points. We have but few records to throw 
light upon the transactions of those years, but In 1623 there were several families 
residing on each side of the Saco River, among whom were Richard Vines on the 
west side and .John Oldham on the cai-X.— Locke's Shores of Casco Bay. 

In 1«31 a cargo of domestic animals, cows, hogs, goats and sheep, was brought 
into the Saco settlement, the first that had been Imported into Maine. The pre- 
cise date when horses were first brought into the colony is not known, prolmbly 
fifteen to twenty-five years later. 

^This grant was sold in 1C45 to Dr. Robert Child, and after several transfers fell 
Into possession of Major William Phillips.— ^radburj/'s History of Kennebunkport. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 7 

patents, that to the Lygonia Company and that to Vines and his 
associates, were clearly infringements of the grant to Gorges and 
Mason. 

June 7, 1635, the Plymouth Council — incorporated in 1620 — 
formally surrendered to the king the Great Charter of New England, 
having previously divided the territory into twelve parts, and then 
"proceeded to a distribution of New England among themselves by 
lot." They accompanied the surrender of their charter with a peti- 
tion to the king for separate patents according to this agreement. 
By this distribution Gorges, who must have been a member of the 
Council at this time, continued to retain possession of the country 
between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, and the action of the 
Council in this particular was confirmed by Charles the First, where- 
upon it was named New Somersetshire from Gorges' English home. 
The following year Sir Ferdinando sent over his nephew, William 
Gorges, as governor, with instructions to endeavor to revive the set- 
tlement at Agamenticus, which was far from being in a prosperous 
condition, and to organize a government for his colonies. It is sup- 
posed that William, on his arrival in this country, proceeded directly 
to Agamenticus, where he tarried a few days only; he then visited 
Saco. Having brought over with him commissions from Sir Ferdi 
nando to several persons, then residing in the colonies, to act as 
assistants or councilors, a board of governor and councilors was 
at once instituted. The members of this board, by their commis- 
sions, were clothed with such authority that they had complete con- 
trol of the government in all its departments, executive, legislative 
and judicial. Its first meeting was held on the eighteenth day of 
March, 1636, and formed the first regular organized government 
in Maine.^ In its judicial capacity the board transacted no incon- 
siderable amount of business. During its session, which continued 
several days, William Scadlock, who came over with Vines' com- 
pany in 1630, and is supposed to have been the first permanent set- 
tler in Cape Porpoise, brought an action of debt against Morgan 
Howell, also a resident of Cape Porpoise. Scadlock was also pre- 
sented for drunkenness and was fined five shillings for the offense. 

After remaining in Saco a few weeks William Gorges returned 
to Agamenticus, where he erected a mansion-house and furnished it. 
It is believed that he did not remain in this country more than two 

'This meeting was held in the house of Richard Bonithon, which stood on the 
east side of Saco River, near the lower Ferry or just above the terminus of the Old 
Orchard Beach Railroad.— SAorcs of Saco Bay. 



8 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

years. Four years later, 1639, Gorges obtained a new charter "con- 
stituting him lord-proprietary of the Province or County of Maine/ 
with extraordinary powers of legislation and government," but no 
change was made in the bounds of his estate. The charter was a 
liberal one. No time was lost in instituting a government in "due 
form," — the prescribed religion was the Episcopal, or that of the 
Church of England. "His son, Thomas Gorges, was appointed 
deputy-governor of his domain, with six persons, residents on the 
spot, for councilors, who were severally to fill the offices of secre- 
tary, chancellor, field-marshal, treasurer, admiral and master of ord- 
nance, and were jointly to constitute a supreme court of judicature 
to meet every month, and to be served by a registrar and a provost- 
marshal. To form a legislature, eight deputies, 'to be elected by the 
freeholders of the several counties,' were to be associated with 
the councilors. Each county was to have its court, consisting of a 
lieutenant and eight justices, to be appointed by the Council." As a 
preliminary step in the work of organizing a government on the 
plan thus prescribed by the "Lord Proprietary," a court was held at 
Saco, on the western side of the river, now Biddeford, on the 
twenty-fifth day of June, 1640, the first in Maine by which subor- 
dinate officers were appointed, and several causes, both civil and 
criminal, were disposed of. Palfrey says this court was held by four 
of the councilors, but other historians, — among them Willis, author 
of the " History of Portland," who, well versed in the early his- 
tory of the State, may safely be accepted as reliable authority, — 
state that all the councilors, together with the deputy-governor, were 
present, viz. : Thomas Joscelyn, deputy-governor, Richard Vines, 
Francis Champernoon, Henry Joscelyn, Richard Bonithon, William 
Hooke and John Godfrey. Willis also states that these persons 
were men of ability, The new deputy-governor, Thomas Gorges, 
on his arrival found the mansion-house which had been erected by 
his cousin and predecessor in office, William Gorges, in Agamenticus, 
in a wretched condition, barely habitable and nearly destitute of 
every essential for comfortable housekeeping. His first impressions 
in regard to the moral character of the inhabitants of his realm 

'This imiiie, as Is generally supposed, was given In compliment to the wife of 
Charles the First, Maria Henrietta, who owned in Fiance, as her private estate, a 
province then called the Province of Meyne. " Be this as it may, the name was 
undoubtedly suggested by the fact that this eastern country had been commonly 
called the Mayne (main) land In distinction from the numerous islands on its 
coast." — See " Palfrey's History of New Kngland," to which the compiler is in- 
debted for many of the facts stated in this chapter, and from which he has freely- 
quoted. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 9 

must have been anything but favorable. Unquestionably a consid- 
erable portion of the early settlers or sojourners in our coast towns 
were "rough specimens of humanity." 

The new deputy-governor and his councilors proceeded with all 
convenient dispatch to carry out the instructions they had received 
in reference to the government of the province. It was divided 
into two counties, of one of which Agamenticus was the principal 
settlement; of the other, Saco. The annual general courts were 
appointed to be held at the latter place, while the former place was 
distinguished, both by being the residence of the deputy-governor 
and by the dignity of incorporation as a borough (1641). This was 
followed in the spring of the succeeding year by a "city charter 
authorizing it and its suburbs, constituting a territory of twenty-one 
square miles, to be governed under the name of Gorgeana, by a 
mayor, twelve aldermen, a common council of twenty-four members, 
and a recorder, all to be annually chosen by the citizens. Probably 
as many as two-thirds of the adult males were in places of author- 
ity." ^ Hazard, in his "State Papers," copies the charter and 
remarks that "when Gorges made Agamenticus a city he of course 
meant it to be the seat of a bishop, for the word city has no other 
meaning in English law." Gorgeana was the first English city 
incorporated on the western continent. 

The Kennebunk River was the dividing line between the two 
-counties; that on the western side of the river was called Yorkshire, 
with Agamenticus (now York) as its shire town, and that on the 
•eastern side was named New Somersetshire, with Saco for its shire 
town. County courts had been established in both districts ; the 
whole machinery of the new government was working as smoothly 
as could be reasonably expected, and the province was comparatively 
prosperous. This encouraging condition of things did not, however, 
long continue. The civil wars in England which commenced in 
1642, among the consequences of which were the beheading of 
Charles the First (January 30, 1649,) ^^^ ^^^ protectorate of Crom- 
well (1653-58), wrought political changes through the influence of 
which our little, far-away colony was seriously disturbed, and its 
situation and prospects materially altered; but to the inhabitants it 
proved to be only the transit from a government without stability or 
power, through a path beset with the thickets and thorns of doubt 
and strife, to a broader field of action, where they were to enjoy 



10 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

more of quiet, order and security among themselves than they had 
hitherto known, and where their position for the coming conflicts 
with savage foes would be far better than could possibly be hoped 
for under the rule of Gorges. 

The long controversy between Charles the First and his parlia- 
ment, and the successes of the party hostile to the king and the 
national religion, greatly encouraged the opponents to the royal 
cause, among whom the schemers and speculators who had been 
'•kept at bay" by the crown were fully represented. The holders 
of the Lygonia patent improved the opportunity thus presented 
(1643) to dispose of their claim. Sir Alexander Rigby, a member 
of parliament and a republican, was the purchaser. He commis- 
sioned as his agent George Cleaves, who had occasionally resided 
in the territory, with all the powers necessary to enable him to 
prosecute the claim, etc., etc.^ 

Thomas and William Gorges, the agents of Ferdinando, disputed 
Rigby's title. A long contest ensued, commencing (1644) in the 
county courts and terminating in a reference of the whole matter 
(1649) to the governor-general and commissioners of foreign plan- 
tations. Their decision was in Rigby's favor. While this contro- 
versy was pending. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who was an active 
loyalist, was imprisoned by Cromwell and suffered loss of property. 
He died in 1647. Gorges had accomplished very little during the 
twenty-five years that had passed since he had received his first 
charter. He had found it difficult to plant colonies by proxy, 
and still more difficult to render effective regulations or law that 
had been framed for their government, with only an imperfect 
knowledge of their condition and wants. He had been harassed, 
impoverished and bitterly disappointed. Still he had struggled on 
in defiance of difficulties at home and in his colony, nursing ambi- 
tious projects, and looking trustfully forward to a day when his 
long-cherished hopes should be realized. When he received the 
extraordinary charter that was granted to him in 1639, he believed 
that that day had dawned, and that his toil, expenditures and patient 
waiting were soon to be rewarded by the possession of the glittering 

' Cleaves was the llrst settler in Portland, having as early as 1632 made a clear- 
ing and erected a domicile within the present limits of the city. He is described 
as "a restless, ambitious, self-willed man," but was hardy and energetic, with a 
fair education. As executive officer of the Province of Lygonia and agent of 
Rigby he performed his duties with signal ability. He \-islted England several 
times, but made Portland his permanent home, where several of his descendants 
now reside, among whom are some of its most respected citizens. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 11 

prize which he had kept constantly in view — "his being's end and 
aim." He was doomed to disappointment. He never set foot on 
the soil which had cost him so much labor and anxiety. Bearing in 
mind the age in which he lived, we are inclined to think, as we 
read the story of his life, that "notwithstanding all his faults, he 
deserved a better fate." ^ 

Godfrey succeeded Gorges as governor of the whole territory 
held under the charter of 1639. His position was an exceedingly 
uncomfortable one. By the decision in Rigby's favor the Province 
of Maine extended only from the Piscataqua River to the Ktnne- 
bunk River ; indeed, Rigby claimed, through his agent, that it 
extended to the Mousam, or, as it was then called, the Cape Porpus 
River, and had the effrontery to issue grants of land lying between 
the Kennebunk and Little Rivers. The reason assigned for this 
claim was entirely untenable. It was that the commissioners " merely 
awarded Rigby a tract forty miles square, without defining the lim- 
its." This was simply ridiculous. The only question before the 
commissioners was whether the forty miles square originally granted 
to Rigby (with the same bounds, of course,) should be confirmed to 
him or awarded to Gorges. 

In 1650 the government of Massachusetts claimed that "the 
patent of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay [March 
19, 1628,] granted a territory having for its northern boundary a 
line extending westward on the Atlantic Ocean on a parallel of 
latitude three miles north of the most northerly part of the river 
Merrimac," which included all that was embraced on the patents to 
Gorges and Rigby. The disturbed condition of public affairs in 
England, coupled with the entanglements and animosities existing 
in the Province of Maine, afforded an excellent opportunity for the 
pressing of a claim which it was hardly to be expected could be 
successfully urged at a period when order and prosperity prevailed ; 
when it could receive full examination and calm consideration 
abroad, and when the parties in possession in the coveted territory, 
poor, weak and divided, were unable to resist the demand of their 

'Gorges, in his "Narriitlve," p. 49, attributes his want of success in his efforts 
to settle the District of Maine: " 1st. Beginning when there was no hope of any- 
thing but present loss. iJ<i. Because he sought not barely his own profit, but the 
thorough discovery of tl)e country for the benefit of others. Od. He never went 
in person to see the people whom he employed. 4th. A want of settled govern- 
ment." Dr. Belknap, in reference to the foregoing, says: "Two other things 
contributed more than these to the failure of the enterprise. The one was their 
application to trade and fishery instead of husbandry. The other was the idea of 
lordships and the granting of lands, not as freeholds, but by lease, subject to 
quitrents."' 



12 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

more powerful neighbors with the strength and energy which the 
emergency required. Massachusetts, therefore, determined not only 
boldly to declare its pretensions, but persistently to prosecute them, 
and to this end commissioners were appointed to visit Maine in 
furtherance of the object (165 1); commencing with the inhabitants 
of Kittery, then a small settlement, they offered to receive them 
under the government of Massachusetts, " if terms of agreement 
could be concluded upon by mutual consent; otherwise having laid 
claim to the place, they protested against any further proceeding by 
virtue of their combination, or other interests whatever." This was 
an initiatory step from which no advantage was obtained, and 
probably none was expected. Surveyors were appointed early in 
the ensuing year by the General Court of Massachusetts to trace the 
line; they reported in October following that they had traced the 
stream of the Merrimac as far as the parallel of forty-three degrees, 
forty minutes and twelve seconds, whereupon the above-named 
commissioners again, and for the second and third time, visited 
Kittery, which November 20, 1652, "made its submission and was 
constituted a town of Massachusetts within a new county or shire, 
which was called by the name of Yorkshire, and embraced all the 
territory yet claimed by the Bay Company east of the Piscataqua"; 
courts were established for the county; an organization was pre- 
scribed for the towns; assurance was given that the people inhab- 
iting these towns should enjoy protection and equal acts of favor 
and justice with those inhabiting the towns on the south side of the 
Piscataqua River and within the "liberties of Massachusetts." 
Property held under the grant of the town, or of the Indians, or of 
the former general courts (under Gorges' administration), was con- 
firmed to the possessors, and the town was allowed to send two 
deputies to the General Court of Massachusetts. 

On the twenty-second of November the commissioners held 
their court at Agamenticus, the inhabitants of which, "after some 
time spent in debatements, and many questions answered and 
objections removed," ^ made its submission, fifty persons, among 
whom were Godfrey and Rushworth, members of Gorges' govern- 
ment, taking the freeman's oath. The name of York was given to 
the town, and the same privileges accorded to it as had been granted 
to Kittery. By this act Agamenticus, as a name of a town, and the 
city of Gorgeana, ceased to exist. The commissioners, on the fourth 

' Palfioy. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 13 

of July in the following year, visited Wells and held their court and 
summoned the inhabitants of that town, of Saco and of Cape Porpoise 
to appear before them. Some of the Wells people were decidedly 
adverse to the movement, and were not at all backward in giving 
expression to their sentiments ; nevertheless, twenty-six, probably 
the whole number of adults in the town, took the oath;^ twenty 
persons were present from Saco, and twelve from Cape Porpoise, all 
of whom made the required declaration without opposition. That a 
large part of the inhabitants of these five towns, after a trial of three 
years, were well satisfied with the new order of things, appears from 
a memorial signed by seventy of them (who, according to a letter 
of Rushworth to Governor Endicott, "were the best part if not the 
greatest part" of the population), to Cromwell, in which they said, 
"Through God's mercy we enjoy it [the new government] to our 
good satisfaction, and for our continual settledness under it we 
daily pray." 

In 1658 the inhabitants of Black Point, Spurwink and Blue Point, 
which were incorporated as the town of Scarborough, acknowledged 
their allegiance to Massachusetts, and at the same time those resid- 
ing at Casco Bay, twenty-nine in number, thirteen of whom signed 
with a mark, took the oath of allegiance, and the name of Falmouth 
was given to the township. 

The accession of Charles the Second to the throne of England. 
in 1660, was followed in Massachusetts by political troubles of the 
gravest character, and by an important change in the aspect of 
affairs in the Province of Maine. A commission consisting of four 
persons was sent over by the king in 1664, "to obtain information 
for the king's guidance in his endeavors to advance the well-being 
of his subjects in New England," etc., etc. The commissioners 
were directed to make a thorough examination into all matters 
directly or indirectly affecting the interests of the Crown ; subjects 

'This involuntary act did not render the people of Wells faithful subjects of 
the Bay State. They were dissatisfied and restless. In May, 1662, a "general 
court," as it was termed, was held in Wells in the interest of Gorges. Very little 
is known concerning this assemblage; it was held at the house of Francis Little- 
field, Senior, and there is no reason to suppose that it w.is anything more than a 
gathering of the inhabitants of the town — a "town meeting " — to consider and 
express their views concerning the usurpation of the State of Massachusetts. 
Commissioners from Massachusetts were present at the meeting; they made a 
formal demand that the meeting should be dissolved, but this order was disre- 
garded. The meeting, so far as can be ascertained, was productive of no results 
of the slightest consequence. Its only claim to importance is the evidence It 
affords that the majority of the inhabitants of the township were hostile to the 
Massachusetts government. 



14 HISTORY OF KENNKRUXK. 

of dispute among the colonists themselves were also to be consid- 
ered, and they were empowered to adjust differences, reform abuses, 
etc. In this position of things, it may well be supposed, that dis- 
affected persons in the Province of Maine were ready "to improve 
the opportunity," and to give publicity to their prejudices or griev- 
ances by word and act, while those who were well satisfied with their 
condition, under the government of Massachusetts, deemed it the 
dictate of prudence to remain quiet and wait events. From 1661 
to 1663, inclusive, a majority of the towns in the province mani- 
fested their disaffection by neglecting to send representatives to the 
general court. These demonstrations induced Massachusetts, in 
May, 1664, to send a committee to the province "to require all 
persons belonging to the county to return peaceably to their former 
obedience, and all officers to attend to the faithful discharge of their 
respective places."^ 

x\t about the same time the king, by his secretary, wrote to his 
trusty and well beloved, the inhabitants upon the Province of Meyn 
. . . . " informing them that he was legally advised that the claim 
of Gorges was valid, and that the government over them by Massa- 
chusetts was usurped, and requiring them forthwith to make resti- 
tution of the said province unto the said Ferdinand© Gorges [grand- 
son of Sir Ferdinando], or his commissioners, and deliver him or 
them the quiet and peaceful possession thereof." This was fol- 
lowed on the part of Gorges by some measures looking to the 
restoration of his authority as heir of his grandfather. Undaunted 
by these proceedings, the General Court of Massachusetts, in May, 
1665, sent a proclamation to the province "requiring all the inhab- 
itants of that county to remain in their duty and obedience to his 
Majesty, in subjection to the authority of this court." The royal 
commissioners appeared at York within a month after the date of 
this proclamation, and proceeded to form a government "independ- 
ent alike of the proprietary of Gorges and of Massachusetts, and to 
appoint magistrates for each of the eight towns with authority also 
to convene as one board for the transaction of business of general 
concern." This arrangement continued in force two years. The 
commissioners on their return from an eastern tour held another 
court at York in October, 1665, "in which they decreed the inva- 
lidity of all titles to land acquired from the natives, or under the 



' Tlio i-onipiltT is indebted to Pallrey's " History 
■itated and ^notations made to the eini of this i-hapte 



HISTORY OF KENNEBlfNK. 15 

Lygonia patent, thus destroying the pretensions of Rigby's" son and 
heir and settling for all time a vexatious controversy. 

In May, 1668, the General Court of Massachusetts again took 
up the case of its county of York, " The French war had frightened 
the settlers in Maine, living as they did in scattered families, in the 
face of Indian tribes who were under the influence of the mission- 
aries from Quebec. The king of England took no thought for them ; 
Gorges could not defend them ; the only power in posture to afford 
them protection was Massachusetts, and when again she turned her 
attention toward them, it was to find the ancient loyalty to her 
increased, and little opposition to her claims requiring to be over- 
come, except what was offered by interested officials." The court 
issued a proclamation requiring the inhabitants of the county to 
yield obedience to the colonial laws and officers, and subsequently 
sent four commissioners to York to hold a court and reconstruct the 
lawful government. " Mr. Josselyn and several others styled justices 
of the peace," appeared before the commissioners and at the court, 
and remonstrated against the whole proceedings, on the ground that 
they (Mr. Josselyn, etc.,) were in authority under the appointment 
of one of the royal commissioners, but their protest was unheeded.^ 
"The Yorkshire towns had already been directed to choose their 
local officers and jurymen, and their votes were now sent in and 
counted by the commissioners; constables and jurors were sworn, 
military officers were put in commission for six companies, and, on 
the third day of their visit, the commissioners set off for their return 
to Massachusetts, to report that once more she was mistress of 
Maine." 

The claim of the grandson of Gorges still remained unadjusted. 
He had not ceased to press it upon the attention of the British 
government, and, in one form or another, it had been considered at 
different sessions of the king and his councilors, by whom, in 1675, 
it was submitted to the attorney-general and solicitor-general, who 

^The Oommissioners of Massachiisetts held a "court" at York in July, 1068, 
which continued in session three days, from the seventh to the ninth of the 
month. It was a turbulent session. Gorges' adherents were outspoken and flrni, 
but the commissioners could not be outdone in these particulars. York was 
naturally enough the stronghold of the friends to Gorges; many of his officials 
resided there, and greater prosperity could reasonably be expected under the rule 
of Gorges than under that of Massachusetts; but the mass of the people were 
getting tired of the controversy, and, moreover, it Ijegan to be generally believed 
that the Bay State would maintain its authority over the colony, and then, as 
now, there were the faint-hearted and those with easily adjusted principles, who 
were gradvially falling into the ranks of the supporters of the pretensions of 
Massachusetts. The adherents of Gorges evidently lost ground by this protracted 
and hotly contested struggle. 



10 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

reported that Gorges "had a good title to the Province of Maine,"^ 
and the king and council so decreed. The king "was intending to 
buy Maine of Gorges as an endowment for his son, the Duke of 
Monmouth," but Massachusetts was not to be "caught napping. "^ 
As soon as advised of the decision of the king and council, an agent 
was sent to England to negotiate with Gorges for the purchase of 
his right in the territory; he was successful, and in consideration 
of the sum of twelve hundred fifty pounds sterling (about six thou- 
sand dollars), paid to him by this agent, Gorges conveyed to the 
Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay his inherited patent, 
"with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging." The king 
on learning this fact was indignant, but the " early bird " had 
secured the prize. He had it in his power to annoy the colony by 
which he had been outwitted, but he could not deprive it of the 
complete and indisputable title by which it held, and which rendered 
it "lord paramount" of the Province of Maine. 



CHAPTER II. 

1641-60 EARLY GRANTS EARLY SETTLERS. 

Under date of September 27, 1641,^ Thomas Gorges, "super- 
intendent of the affairs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges," in a carefully 
written document, gave to several persons therein named, of the 
plantation of Exeter, N. H., "who have desired in the behalf of 
themselves and others to take a certain tract of land lying between 
Ogunquit River and Kennebunk, and for eight miles up the coun- 
try," free liberty "to build and take any lands that are there, in 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges's power to grant, to have and to hold to them 
and their heirs and assigns forever." This may properly be termed 
the Charter of Wells. The reason for its peculiar phraseology is 
found in the fact that, at the time it was given, one Stratton claimed 
a part of the territory within the limits described. This claim 
having been proved to be unfounded, Gorges, in another carefully 
prepared instrument, dated July 14, 1643, describes the bounds of 
the plantation as follows : "To begin from the northeast side of 
the Ogunquit River to the southwest side of Kennebunk [River] and 
to run [from the seashore] eight miles up into the country." He 
also granted Henry Boad,^ John Wheelwright,^ and Edward Rush- 
worth of Wells, "free and absolute power to alot, bound and sett 

lit was estimated in 1640 that to that date about four thousand families, con- 
sisting of twenty-one thousand souls, had arrived in two hundred ninety-eight 
vessels and settled in this country. 

- Frequently spelled Boade. His signature to his will, dated January 8, 1654, is 
written " Henery Boad." 

3 Rev. John Wheelwright was the founder of Exeter, N. H. In May, 1629, he 
and his associates purchased of the Indians a tract of land about thirty miles 
square, between the Merrimac and Piscataqua Rivers. The deed conveying this 
tract was signed by four Indian sachems, and the consideration named consisted 
of " coats, shirts, kettles," etc., etc. " The genuineness of this deed," Palfrey says, 
" has been matter of learned controversy. It is generally believed to be a forgery, 
executed not far from the year 1700." However this may be, the territory was 
occupied by Wheelwright and his adherents, thirty-flve in number, in April, 1688, 
after he had been banished from Massachusetts on account of his religious opin- 
ions. " The first work of Wheelwright was to form a church, of which he became 
the minister. He was a man of unusual abilities. He it was that drew up the 
form of government for the little colony — as New Hampshire had as yet no laws 
—which was signed by the heads of families and styled a 'combination.' The 
' combination ' was readopted in 1640, and the original document of that date, in 
the handwriting of Wheelwright, is still preserved in the town clerk's otB.ce [in 
Exeter']."— News-letter Handbook of Exeter. 

It does not appear that he was molested by the Indians, and, further. Mason, 

17 



18 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

forth any lotts or bounds unto any man that shall come to Tnhabitt 
in the plantation," on condition that said Wheelwright, Boad and 
Rushworth shall pay five shillings (about one dollar and twenty-five 
cents) for every hundred acres they make use of, and that all other 
persons shall pay five shillings for every hundred acres "that shall 
be allotted unto them." 

John Sanders,^ undoubtedly the first permanent settler on the 
territory now known as Kennebunk, received a grant from Thomas 
Gorges,^ deputy-governor, etc., of one hundred and fifty acres of land 

whose giant from the Plymouth Council included this territory, did not dispute 
Wheelwright's title, which he claimed he derived by virtue of a deed from the 
original owners. In 1041 Strawberry Bank (now, and since 1653, Portsmouth) and 
Dover, by their own accord, placed themselves under the jurisdiction of Massa- 
chusetts, the chief motive for this step being "the want of some good govern- 
ment," the desire for "help in this particular," and "for the avoiding of such 
insufferable disorders, whereby God had been much dishonored amongst them." 
Wheelwright could not but foresee that the action of the two neighboring towns 
would render it expedient, if not necessary, that Exeter should follow their 
example, and if so that he would again become subject to the Massachusetts gov- 
ernment. It was needful, therefore, that he should seek another location, and 
hence, undoubtedly, the application by his friends, to Gorges, for the tract of land 
granted by Thomas Gorges, September 27, 1641, to which, with several members of 
his Exeter church. Wheelwright removed the following year (1642). According 
to Palfrey, he gave the name of Wells to the plantation. It is a significant fact in 
this connection, that in the above-named grant, made in 1641, no name is given to 
the plantation, but in the subsequent and more definite grant, made about two 
years later, certain persons residing there are said to be "of Wells." 

On his petition and acknowledgment of error in his past ministerial utter- 
ances, the decree of banishment against Wheelwright was removed in 1644. He 
was a resident of Wells about five years, during which time he erected a dwelling- 
house and saw-mill in the vicinity of Oole's Corner, which for a number of years 
thereafter was spoken of as the "town's end." In 1647 he removed to Hampton, 
N. H., where he preached several years; afterward visited England, where "he 
enjoyed the special regard of Cromwell," who was a college acquaintance, and on 
his return made Salisbury, Mass., his place of residence for the remainder of his 
life. He died in 1679, aged eighty-five years. 

'Sanders was a juryman in 164.5. We regret to find that, a year or two later, 
he was fined by the court " for disorderly conduct on the Sabbath." 

2 Thomas Gorges and Vines visited the White Mountains in August, 1642. An 
Irishman named Darby Field, who was an inhabitant of Exeter, N. H., in 1639, it 
is supposed was the first man who explored this region, about the year 1632. " The 
report he brought," says Governor Winthrop in his journal, "of shining stones. 
etc., caused divers others to travel thither, but they found nothing worth their 
pains." The extravagant representations made by Field, after his return, un- 
doubtedly influenced Gorges and Vines to undertake the journey, with the hope, 
probably, of finding valuable mines or precious stones. Winthrop gives an inter- 
esting description of this excursion, the particulars of which the Governor prob- 
ably otained from Vines himself. " They went up Saco River in birch canoes, and 
that way they found it ninety miles to Pegwagget, an Indian town, but by land 
it is but sixty. From the Indian town they went up hill (for the most part) about 
thirty miles in woody lands, then they went about seven or eight miles upon 
shattered rocks, without tree or grass, very steep all the way. At the top Is a 
plain about three or four miles over, all shattered stones, and upon that is another 
rock or spire about a mile in height, and about an acre of ground at the top. At 

the top of the plain arise four great rivers They went and returned in 

fifteen days." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 19 

lying between Little and Cape Porpus (Mousam) Rivers, and fifty 
acres of marsh ground, lying on each side of said neck of land and 
adjoining to said rivers ; Sanders paying for the premises unto Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, his heirs or assigns, six shillings and eight pence, 
yearly, on the twentieth day of September, and Edmund Littlefield 
being empowered "to enter into the premises or part in the name of 
the whole, and to take possession of the premises, and after pos- 
session so taken to deliver possession" thereof unto said Sanders. 
This instrument is dated July 14, 1643. At this time the Mousam 
made a short turn a little distance below the dwelling-house of the 
late Ivory Chick (now owned by George Parsons), and near the 
ocean, then running southwesterly to the bank near the Henry Hart 
house, now owned by Charles Parsons (marked by the remains of 
the dam placed there when the old canal was excavated), it there 
made another abrupt bend and ran in a southerly direction to the 
ocean, by "Hart's Rocks," near which are the summer cottages of 
Charles Parsons and others. From the Mousam, as its course then 
was, to the Kennebunk River, the travel by the beaches and uplands 
was unimpeded by streams — the present course of the Mousam, 
by the western side of Great Hill, having been cut through the 
upland and the beach, a distance of about one-fourth of a mile, 
during the years 1846 and 1847; and the "canal," by the eastern 
side of the hill, about three-fourths of a mile in length, and dividing 
"Gillespie's Point" in reaching its terminus, was excavated in 
1793-94. When the western passage was made, a dam was built 
across this canal, about one-fourth of a mile from the ocean, thus 
forming the convenient and pleasant cove where boats, when not in 
use, are safely anchored, and where the facilities for embarking and 
landing are excellent. 

The grant by Gorges to Sanders appears to have been the first 
made by him within our territorial limits. Other grants were made 
about the same time : one of six hundred acres to George Butland, 
commencing at the seashore on the western side of Kennebunk 
River, running back a mile into the country ; one to William Symands 
of two hundred acres, bounded by the seashore on the south. Cape 
Porpus River on the west, and Daniel Pierce's grant on the east ; 
and one to Daniel Pierce, bounded south by seashore, Butland, east, 
Symands, west, and by Cape Porpus River and the commons on the 
north. Butland relinquished his grant, or one-half of it, to John 
Butland, who built a house near the sea and dwelt there many years ; 



20 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

George continued to reside west of Little River ; Symands, who was 
a resident of Wells, sold his lot to his brother Harlackinden, who 
sold it to Daniel Epps in 1657. Very little is known respecting 
Pierce ; he probably was not a resident of Wells at any time. In 
1660 he made a power of attorney, in which he states that he is 
"of Newbury, Mass."; the instrument is witnessed by his sons, 
Daniel Pierce, Jr., and Joshua Pierce. There is no mention made 
of the quantity of land contained in his grant, but references to it, 
in descriptions of the bounds of other lots, lead us to believe that it 
was the smallest of the three, say one hundred acres. A grant of a 
parcel of land, about one hundred acres, was laid out for John 
Cheater, back of and adjoining the grant to Symands— as we judge 
by references to its bounds — a few years subsequent to the date 
of those above named. It is believed that he built a rough dwelling- 
place on his lot, near the Mousam River, which he occupied with 
his family several years. He came to Wells from Newbury, Mass., 
and was known as Lieutenant Cheater. He was here as late as 
1662, in October of which year he sold to Daniel Epps, of Ipswich, 
Mass., five acres of marsh which he purchased of Sanders. He 
was unable to write his name, but signed with a mark. He was 
appointed ferryman over Mousam and Little Rivers in 1662, but 
was succeeded by Nicholas Cole in 1664, about which time he prob- 
ably left town. It is thought by some that he was a tenant on the 
Sanders place after it was sold to Cutts. This is not improbable, 
but we think there is no positive evidence that such was the fact. 

We think there is no record of any other grant or grants by 
Gorges or his authorized agents, east of the stream which constitutes 
our present western boundary, although it is apparent that several 
parcels of upland and marsh were so transferred, to different indi- 
viduals, shortly after the conveyances above named, both on the 
Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers, before the incorporation of the 
town of Wells, in 1653, by the Massachusetts commissioners. 

There is positive evidence that there were permanent settlers 
west of Little River several years prior to the date (1641) when 
Edmund Littlefield located in Wells. Thomas Gorges, under date 
of September 20, 1642, gave a certificate which was recorded 
on the county records as a deed, as follows : " I have given a 
promise to Mr. Cole, about twelve months since, that he should 
peaceably enjoy that little tract of land lying between his own field 
and the field of Stephen Batson, which promise of mine, by these 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 21 

presents, I do confirm and ratify. Recorded at Wells Court, June, 
1647, p me Basil Parker Re: Cor." It seems that Cole and Batson, 
in 1 64 1, had cleared fields, and there does not appear to be room 
for a doubt that each had erected a dwelling-house. In the erection 
of these buildings and the clearing of the fields, it is fair to presume 
they were employed not less than three years, so that it is safe to 
say there were permanent settlers in Wells as early as 1638. It is 
not at all probable that Cole and Batson were the only persons who 
had put up houses and cleared lands in Wells at this date. In 
looking over old deeds and other ancient documents, we meet with 
allusions that appear to authorize the statement that there were 
permanent settlers in Wells as early as 1635. 

George Cleaves, as agent for Alexander Rigby, president and 
proprietor of the Lygonia patent, under the ridiculous claim that his 
patent extended to the Mousam and even to Little River, granted 
to John Wakefield and John Littlefield,^ May 14, 165 1, two hundred 
acres of upland and meadow, "beginning at the foot of the south- 
west side of the highest hill [Great Hill, which has materially 
diminished in extent and height since that time], toward Goodman 

Sanders' land these lots to run upon a square till the two 

hundred acres be completed " (embracing all the upland and marsh 
from Mousam River to the east end of the first sands, and running 
back about one-third of a mile), "on condition of paying to Rigby's 
heirs five shillings yearly, on the 29th of September," etc., etc. This 
conveyance is in the common form of the time, but after the usually 
closing words, "Witness my hand," etc., he adds, "which is in con- 
firmation of those other my grants being by me thereunto appointed 
2oth November, 1641. Those tenants to pay upon demand all 
former void as ould planters, did Allso buit to our to our tytle, 
according to the time that all the rest was to pay three years past 
rent and to have a particular grant under my hand at my return out 
of England," etc. It is impossible, at this day, to obtain a correct 
idea of the meaning of these enigmatical sentences. They do not 
appear to refer to the transfer made to Wakefield and Littlefield, 
but rather to other transactions in preceding years, in other town- 
ships, entirely disconnected from it. There is not the slightest 
evidence that Cleaves ever acted as agent for the Lygonia Company, 
or that he issued conditional grants in 1641, under authority of the 
company or sanctioned in any form thereby, of any parcel or parcels 

' .John Littlefield was the son of Edmund, one of the earliest settlers, and John 
Waketteld's wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of said Edmund. 



22 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

of land situated in this township. Following the signature of 
Cleaves and the signatures of the witnesses is this memorandum : 
'' Pres. of Edmond Littlefield, for John Wakefield and John Little- 
field ten shillings this November ist, 1641, which £10 i6s isd and 
for grant five shillings for every acre, besides the rent." The 
meaning of these words and figures it would be useless to attempt 
to decipher, nor could an explanation of the confusions in dates be 
undertaken with any promise of success. It is hardly possible that 
they refer to the Great Hill lot, inasmuch as the terms of the sale 
are fully and clearly stated in the body of the deed ; and as this 
deed was undoubtedly written and executed in Saco, it is not an 
unfair inference that the memorandum relates to another transaction 
and was attached to this instrument through carelessness, or for 
reasons then well understood by the parties present. 

This whole matter is quite unimportant were it not for the fact 
that these addenda to the deed have led Bradbury (History of Ken- 
nebunkport) and Bourne (History of Wells and Kennebunk) into 
the error of adopting 1641 as its true date, or as the date when a 
bond or agreement for the conveyance was given. That it is an 
error is obvious, (i) The Lygonia patent was granted in 1G30, the 
four patentees being residents in England. In May, 1632, Richard 
Dummer was intrusted with the management of their interests here, 
but his proceedings were unsatisfactory and were the subject of 
complaint by them to Governor Winthrop in December of that 
year; whether he was deprived of his trust at or about the time of 
this complaint is not known. There is no evidence whatever that 
Cleaves ever held the position of manager of their colonial business. 
They did not sell their patent to Rigby until 1643. Palfrey states 
that Rigby probably made the purchase at the instance of Cleaves, 
who was then in London, and who was appointed by Rigby "to take 
possession and administration of his property." Cleaves returned to 
this country in 1644. Rigby died in 1650, and his son and heir, in 
July, 1652, in consequence of unfavorable representations that had 
reached him, "sent a letter of rebuke to the local rulers, forbidding 
them to execute any acts of administration till he should give further 
orders." After this letter had been received here Cleaves's name 
does not again appear in our local history. (2) Cleaves did not 
appeal to the court to sustain the Lygonia patent until 1644, and did 
not get the decision of the commissioners for foreign plantations in 
his favor until March, 1646, and he did not claim that the Lygonia 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 23 

patent entitled its possessor to territory west of Kennebunk River 
until after this decision had been made. (3) Cleaves's deed refers to 
"Goodman Sanders's land," which was not granted to Sanders until 
1643. (4) The first instrument recorded, signed by Cleaves as 
agent for Rigby, is dated May 20, 1647, ^"d we find no record of 
grants made by Cleaves, in any capacity, west of Kennebunk River, 
Edward Rigby, in a letter dated London, 19 July, 1652, complains 
of improper conduct on the part of divers persons, and adds: "I 
conceive all acts done either by the deputy-president [Cleaves], the 
six assistants, the judges, or any other officer whatsoever which had 
commissions from my father, since my father's death, are void, by 
reason their commissions ended with his death." 

Two days after the date of the deed to Wakefield and Little- 
field (May 16, 165 I ), Knight and Baker, " by virtue of that power and 
authority committed unto" them, "by Mr. Cleaves, Ex-President," 
convey to "Goodman Sanders, the older, fifty acres of upland join- 
ing to his one hundred and fifty acres [between Mousam and Little 
Rivers] ; the power with me given is received from the Hon. Col. 
Alex. Rigby, President and Proprietor of the province of Lygonia." 
This conveyance is signed by Knight and Baker, but a certificate, 
confirming the sale and giving peaceable possession of the premises 
to Sanders, which forms a part of the document, and which it is 
evident was written with the understanding that Cleaves would sign 
it, is without a signature. In view of the facts that Cleaves is here 
spoken of as "ex-president," and that he failed to attach his signa- 
ture to the certificate, there is good ground for the supposition that 
about this time he had been admonished by Edward Rigby that he 
must confine his operations within the legal bounds of the Lygonia 
patent. 

"On the 27th of the ninth month," the year not stated, but it 
is quite evident that it was 1651, John Wakefield, for himself and 
John Littlefield, in consideration of about thirty-five dollars, sold to 
Francis Littlefield, senior, and Anthony Littlefield, the whole of the 
before-named two hundred acres of upland and marsh. Anthony 
sold his half-part of this purchase, together with his half-part of a 
grant of thirty acres made to him and Francis, senior, by the town, 
in 1653, to William Symands, in October, 1658. The deed was wit- 
nessed by John Gooch, senior, and John Gooch, junior. 

These conveyances, that to Wakefield and Littlefield, and that 



24 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

to Sanders, are the only ones that were made by or for Cleaves,^ as 
agent of lands in the township, that are recorded on the town books, 
and these, as will be seen, were subsequently formally "confirmed" 
to the persons in possession by votes of the town of Wells." 

In October, 1649, John Wadleigh obtained a quitclaim from 
sagamore Thomas Chabinocke and his mother, Ramanascho, of all 
the territory within the bounds of Thomas Gorges' grant to Wheel- 
wright and others. In a memorandum dated March 31, 1650, it is 
declared that John Wadleigh "took quiet and peaceable possession 
of the premises described in his Indian right .... and assigns 
the same as it shall be inhabited, to be liable to all common charges 
and rates for the town of Preston, alias Wells." The words '-Pres- 
ton" and "alias" may be noticed while passing. There never was 
a time when the territory under consideration was generally known 
as Preston. It was not so called by the Indians,^ and, as before 
stated, when the township was first described or bounded by Gorges, 
in 1641, it was simply termed a "tract of land," but when, in 1643, 
a confirmation of this grant was made, residents thereon were said 
to be "of Wells." It is quite probable that Wadleigh and a few 
others who were not pleased with the name of Wells, or for some 
other reason not now understood, attempted to give to it the name 
of "Preston," but it is apparent that the movement found no favor 
with the larger part of the settlers. 

The selectmen appointed by the court held in Wells, July 5, 
1653, granted to Francis and Anthony Littlefield, November 27, 
1653, a neck of upland, containing thirty acres or thereabouts, com- 
monly called the great neck, lying between Cape Porpus River and 
Kennebunk River, bounded by Goodman Butland on the northeast, 
a spruce swamp on the west and the sea on the southeast. This 
was the first grant made after the incorporation of the town by the 
Massachusetts commissioners. This lot embraced Great Hill and 
the projection into the sea on its eastern side. The old canal was 
cut through it about one hundred years ago, leaving attached to 
Boothby's Beach a strip of land that has since been known as the 

' Cleaves sold to Robert Wadleigh, in August, 1650, five hundred acres of upland 
and marsh, "at the Great Plain, behind the Town Lots," in Wells. This was 
Oleaves's private property, but from what source he derived his title is not stated. 

- Bradbury says that " Edmund Littlefield, in making his will, in ICOl [he died 
the same year], speaks of his farm, on the eastern side of Mousam River, as being 
specified in two deeds granted by Mr. George Cleaves, agent of Rigby, which is 
now come into the government of Mr. Gorges." These deeds were not recorded, 
and wo find no other reference to the " farm." 

^The Indian name of the township was " Nampseoscocke " or " Nimscoscook." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 25 

"Two Acres," on which are the cottages of Hartley and Robert 
Lord, Mr. Tibbetts of Great Falls, N. H., and others. Great Hill 
and the adjoining "neck" have been largely encroached upon by 
the sea, so that now, at high water, but few acres remain uncovered. 
It is diffcult to imagine that the rough, unsightly surface, covered 
with rocks or coarse gravel and accessible only at low water, was, 
even a century ago, during the warm season, an exceedingly pleasant 
spot of earth, bearing good grass and the crops usually cultivated 
on our farms, and that a comfortable dwelling-house stood thereon, 
over the site of which the tide now ebbs and flows. 

The town granted, June lo, 1659, to Lieut. John Sanders, senior, 
"a certain tract of land, be it more or less, that lies at the head of 
said Sanders's land, between Cape Porpus River and the Little 
River westward and so butts upon the land that was granted to Will 
Hamons, which Hamons is to begin at the second creek lying up 
Cape Porpus River, and the said Sanders is to have all the land that 
is between his own land formerly granted and that second creek." 
This covers and gives a good title to the land granted by Knight 
and Baker, as agents of Cleaves, in 1651 ; and June 26, 1662, the 
town voted " to grant and run same [referring to the Great Hill lot 
purchased of Cleaves] to Francis Littlefield, senior, all the land 
which he doth now hold, whether by purchase or by grant from the 

town This is agreed upon by the inhabitants and freemen 

of the town of Wells," etc. It is evident that Sanders and Littlefield 
would not have applied to the town for formal action, by which the 
grants they had respectively derived from Cleaves should be covered 
and confirmed, if they had not be fully satisfied that these grants, 
without such action by the town, were entirely valueless. 

Robert Wadleigh sold Francis Littlefield, senior, June 17, 1654, 
two hundred acres of upland and fifty acres of marsh, lying on the 
northeast side of Cape Porpus River, "beginning at the little hilF 
which butts upon the river where there is an Indian grave stands, 
for to run up the river towards the lower falls." Consideration 
about twenty dollars. Whence he derived his title does not appear, 
but the selectmen of Wells, in due form, "grant and confirm" the 
premises to Littlefield. 

June 10, 1659, the town granted to Thomas Mussell two hun- 
dred acres of upland, lying on the northeast side of Cape Porpus 

'Olay Hill, so-called, near "Olay Hill Bridge." We do not learn that there is 
any legend or story attached to this Indian grave. 



26 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

River, beginning above ^ Edmund Littlefield's marsh and to run 
there four poles in breadth up the river and toward Kennebunk 
River in length. Mussell sold this to Harlackinden Symonds the 
twenty-seventh of the following March. 

'We think this grant was below Edmund Littlefield's marsh, which probably 
Included what has since been known as " Rand's marsh "and all below it to the 
large beaver dam. Mussell's grant was between that made to the senior Larrabee 
and Storer's land, embracing the lots known later as " Wise's pasture, Hubbard's 
and Hatch's wood lots," etc., and extended from the Mousam River to the Ken- 
nebunk, a distance of one mile, as stated in a deed of the property. 



CHAPTER III. 

1660-1674 BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN WELLS AND CAPE PORPUS 

(afterward ARUNDEL, NOW KENNEBUNKPORT,) ESTABLISHED. 

Very little advancement had been made in the settlement of 
our territory (1660) during the seventeen years that had passed 
since the grant to Sanders by Gorges ; all the land on the coast^ 
between Little and Kennebunk Rivers, was in the possession of five 
individuals. Butland held fiom the Kennebunk to the commence- 
ment of "the second sands," running back one mile from the sea — 
a tract of six hundred acres; Francis Littlefield, senior, Daniel 
Pierce and Harlackinden Symonds ^ held from the commencement 
of the second sands to the Cape Forpus River, running back about 
one-third of a mile from the sea, while Sanders held all between thg 
Cape Porpus and Little Rivers, running back to the " second creek 
lying up the Cape Porpus." A few other grants, near to these, had 
been made. Only three dwelling-houses had been erected in the 
time — one by Sanders, near the mouth of the Cape Porpus; one by 
Cheater, in the vicinity of the second creek on said river, and one 
by Butland, near the mouth of the Kennebunk. The three rivers 
had, however, we have reason to believe, been thoroughly explored 
by parties from the Saco, York and Exeter settlements, as v/ell as by 
wandering adventurers from more distant localities, some of whom 
were influenced by curiosity only, while others were impelled by a 
desire for speculation or permanent settlement as farmers or fishermen. 

A controversy had arisen in reference to the boundary line 
between the towns of Cape Porpus and Wells. This year (1660) a 
committee was appointed by each of the towns, with authority to 
meet at a convenient time and place, examine into the merits of the 
question at issue, and establish permanently the boundary line. 
These committees met, and, after duly considering the subject-matter 
that had been referred to them, decided unanimously that the Ken- 
nebunk River was the true dividing line between the two towns. 

'Symonds sold his two liundred acres to Daniel Epps, of Ipswich, Mass., in 
March, KHJO, and describes the bounds of the lot, in part, as follows: " Beginning 
at the north side of Daniel Pearse's upland, and also on the north side of ould 
Llttlefleld's marsh, as It hath beene called," etc. 

27 



28 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Their report, as recorded on the Wells Town Records, vol. I, page 4, 
was as follows : — 

"We whose names are here under written being Chosen by the 
Towne of Capporpus and Wells for the laying out of the dividing 
line of each Towne doo Mutually agree, the River Kenibunck shall 
be ye bounds of Capporpus and soe to the uttmost Extent of both 
the Towns being Eight Miles up into the Country, witness our 
hands this loth day of May 1660. 

Edmund Littlefield ) {Committee on the part of 
Will Hamons \ Wells.'] 

Will Scadlock ) [^Committee o?t the part of 

Morgan Howell " 3 Cape Porpus.'] 

" This is a true Coppy Transcribed out of the Originall & 
Examined word for word. Attest me Jos: Bolles." 

"The Court allows and approves of the Returnes June 6th 1660, 
As attest Edw : Rawson, Secretary." 

This decision gave great ofifense to the inhabitants of Cape 
Porpus, who more than intimated that their committee had acted 
under the influence of intoxicants. While it is true that Scadlock 
and Howell were "hard drinkers," it is equally true that they were 
among the leading citizens of the town, and it was unjust, without 
adducing convincing proof in support of the accusation (which does 
not appear), to charge them with the serious misdemeanor of barter- 
ing the rights of their constituents for the paltry amount of their 
board and grog bills during the few days they were in session. In 
view of the facts bearing upon the question before them, it is 
difficult to imagine a line of reasoning by which they could have 
arrived at any other decision. It was indisputable that the Kenne. 
bunk River always had been the eastern boundary of Wells — a 
doubt had never been entertained that the river which Martin Pring 
entered and on which he sailed a short distance, in 1603, was the 
Kennebunk River, then (in 1660) so-called, and that, from time 
immemorial, neither by native nor white man, had it been known by 
any other name ; there was no possibility of a mistake on this point. 
It is reasonable to suppose that the fact was well known to the 
members of both committees, that the Indian name for the then so- 
called Cape Porpus was Mousam; there existed neither record nor 
tradition that could afford the slightest aid in solving the natural and 
pertinent inquiry — why, when or by whom was the name Cape 
Porpus first given to this stream, situated about five miles west of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 29 

the true Cape Porpus, between which cape and stream was a river 
affording greater facilities for navigation, and widely known as the 
first in this locality whose waters had been touched by a European 
keel. 

There seems to be no other explanation that possesses the 
merit of possibility than the reasonable conjecture, that, after 
Smith returned to Europe from the voyage during which he gave its 
name to Cape Porpoise,^ and after the publication of his account of 
his discoveries and description of the country he had visited, some 
European adventurer came to our shores in pursuit of the fishing- 
ground he had described, and, mistaking the mouth of the Indian 
Mousam for Smith's Cape Porpoise, had given to the river the name 
of the latter, which had passed from fisherman to settler and thus 
had been generally adopted and used by the inhabitants of Wells 
and its vicinity only, from about 1628 to the then present time- 
Unless it could be shown that by some wonderful act of conjuration 
the Kennebunk had been moved in a westerly direction and made 
to occupy the bed of the Cape Porpus, while the last-named had 
been, by a like supernatural operation, transferred to the bed of the 
Kennebunk, all arguments based on the names of the rivers are 
worthless. 

The fact that in many of the instruments conveying and describ- 
ing land bounded by this river, made prior to December, 1681, the 
words "commonly called," or others of like import, precede the name 
"Capeporpus," shows very clearly that although it was almost 
invariably used on the town records and in legal papers, the river 
was, nevertheless, frequently otherwise designated when referred to 
in conversation. We very rarely find the prefix, "commonly called " 
applied to the Kennebunk River.- 

^ Captain Smith probably gave the name of Cape Porpoise to that cape in con- 
sequence of seeing a shoal of porpoises In Its neighborhood. This flsh, from its 
resemblance to the hog, is frequently called the sea hog or puffing pig. The word 
was originally written porcus piscls, from the Latin words, — porcus, a hog, and 
piscis, a flsh; but at the time Captain Smith named the Cape he spelled it Pork- 
piscis. The orthography of the word gradually changed to Porpisces, Porpisse, 
Porpess, and, at the time of the incorporation of the town, in 1658, to Porpus. It 
was first written Porpoise on the county records in U^li.— Bradbury . 

2 The author has attempted, in his historical address, delivered July 4,1876 
(extracts from which will be found in succeeding pages of this volimie), to furnish 
a satisfactory explanation of the origin of the misnomer of the river, as well as 
tenable reasons for believing that its Indian name was Mousam and that Say word 
was influenced so to call his mills because he was satisfied of this fact. Although 
the river, since 1672, has been called Mousam and the village near the falls has 
also borne that name, still we infer it was not used in the recording of town votes 
or in conveyancing until 1681, inasmuch as the first mention of Mousam River on 
the town recoi-ds appears in the record of a town vote, December 6, 1681, granting 
one hundred acres of upland. 



30 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

In the " History of York County," under the title of " Sanford," 
is the following statement, which fully confirms our position in 
reference to the Indian name of the river: "The location [of the 
town of Sanford] was formerly called by the Indians, Mousam, 
which name still attaches to the main stream which flows through 
the town, affording seventeen fine mill powers. 

Cleaves's assumption of ownership of and jurisdiction over terri- 
tory west of the Kennebunk River admitted of no tenable defense. 
The question submitted to the arbitration of the commissioners for 
foreign plantations was not, whether Rigby should be allowed to 
make up for any deficiency in his forty square miles by crossing the 
Kennebunk and seizing the land between it and Little River, but, 
whether the territory within the bounds described in Dye's patent 
(1630) between Cape Porpus and Cape Elizabeth rightfully belonged 
to Gorges or to Rigby, who had purchased Dye's patent. They 
decided in favor of Rigby's claim and thus, we are informed by 
standard historical works, Gorges's domain was reduced to the com- 
paratively small territory lying between the Kennebunk and the 
Piscataqua.^ No historian, it is believed, has named other bounds. 
And, moreover, in any event, what good reason existed why any 
deficiency in acreage should not have been made up, in whole or in 
part, by crossing Dye's eastern as well as his western boundary? 
It is believed that none has been or can be adduced. 

The Lygonia or Dye patent was granted — in direct violation 
of the rights of Gorges — by the Council for New England, whose 
place of business was in England; a company which had rendered 
itself notorious for its carelessness and blunders, and which, after 
some fifteen years of reckless management, surrendered its charter 
to the Crown. The bounds of the patent are clearly defined, but 
it will not be pretended that there had been any survey or measure- 
ment of the tract granted; the number of miles stated must have 
been mere guess-work on the part of the grantees, who were careful 
that their estimate should cover the entire length and breadth of 
the territory embraced within their limits, and this computation was 
adopted by the grantors, without personal knowledge, data or reflec- 
tion. Intelligent, fair-minded men, in view of these facts, would 
not regard this wild estimate of quantity as entitled to any consid- 

1 [The commissioners] had decided that the river Kennebunk was the bound- 
ary between them [Gorges and Rigby], thus severing Saco from the principality 
of Maine. Reduced to these dimensions, Maine comprehended on the mainland 
only Gorgeana, Wells .... and Kittery.— Pai/"rc2/. vol. II, p. 383. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 31 

eration. That Cleaves considered his claim a doubtful venture is 
clearly shown by his marked respect for the grants made by Gorges, 
the caution with which he proceeded in making his own convey- 
ances, and the discrepancies in dates and the inexplicable expres- 
sions and figures that characterize these instruments ; the celerity 
with which the purchasers of the Great Hill tract disposed of the 
property to other parties may well be regarded as proof that they 
themselves had no faith in the validity of the transaction. 

Edmund Littlefield, one of the committee to settle the boundary 
line, it is fair to infer, was on excellent terms with Cleaves. He was 
present when the Great Hill conveyance was made, was a witness 
to the grant — through proxies — to Sanders, and as it appears by 
his will had himself received from Cleaves two grants of land situ- 
ated west of the Kennebunk. It is unquestionably true that Little- 
field thoroughly understood the merits of the controversy, and we 
find him unhesitatingly deciding that this claim was groundless and 
inadmissible. 

An examination of the arguments employed by the good people 
of Cape Porpus, in the advocacy of their cause, cannot fail to im- 
press one with the opinion that the "motive power" with them was 
the desire for more territory; that they looked with something more 
than "longing eyes" upon the broad dimensions of the township of 
Wells, and, perhaps, thought it justifiable to endeavor to enlarge, 
"by hook or by crook," their own more limited acreage, by adding 
to it a liberal slice from the domain of their neighbor. 

Wells, in this controversy, had acted simply on the defensive ; 
and, in previous years, when Cleaves was making grants of land 
within its limits, had taken no action in the matter. It was not in 
a position to do so. It could only look to the agents of Gorges, in 
the peculiar condition of things, for decisive measures; but, certain 
it is, there is no known record or circumstance that countenances, 
in the slightest degree, the idea that Wells at any time favored or 
admitted the claim of Rigby's agent, no evidence whatever that, 
either by word or act, the settlers between the Kennebunk and Little 
Rivers ever considered themselves as belonging to Cape Porpus or 
as citizens of any other township than that of Wells. 

Six years later (1666) the royal commissioners, sent over to 
New England by Charles the Second, held a court in York, and 
then and there formally decreed "the invalidity of all titles to lands 
acquired under the Lygonia patent," thus setting at rest, forever, all 
claims or pretensions based on this iniquitous proceeding. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1669-84 THE FIRST MILLS ERECTED IN 1669 THE HARDSHIPS OF 

THE BUILDER HIS DEATH HIS PROPERTY HELD BY MORTGAGEES 

THEIR OPERATIONS. 

Henry Sayword ^ was a native of England, a millwright by pro- 
fession, and came to this country in 1637. He was a temporary 
resident in several towns in New Hampshire, but failing to find a 
location that he regarded as desirable he extended his researches 
beyond the Piscataqua. In York the outlook was far better 'than in 
any other township he had visited, and here he established himself, 
purchased or obtained a grant of land, erected or rented a dwelling- 
house, and built mills on a site near "where sometyms the ould mill 
stoode which was erected by Hugh Gayl and Will Effingham." He 
was prosperous for a time and carried on an extensive and remuner- 
ative business. We are unable to state the date when he became a 
resident of York. We find that the town of York granted to him, 
between the years 1660 and 1664, "fifty acres of upland, eighty 
poles in breadth from his former bounds, east, and one hundred 
poles in length, running due south." It appears that he was then 
the owner of a lot of land, but whether he derived his title by a 
grant from 'the town, which is the most probable, or by purchase, 
cannot be ascertained; no record exists of a grant to or purchase by 
him prior to this date. References to him in various papers indi- 
cate very clearly that he sustained the character of a large-hearted, 
industrious and enterprising citizen, and that he was always ready 
to buy, sell or lease real estate, to contract for work or to engage in 
any business pursuit that held out the promise of prospective or 
immediate gain, but it is equally evident that impulsiveness was a 
leading trait of his character, to which may be traced his subsequent 
embarrassment, which ended in bankruptcy and, we can probably 
safely add, death; he lacked the essential quality of true discernment. 

In June, 1667, Sayword contracted with the selectmen of York 
to build a meeting-house for the use of said town. The third article 

'This surname is uniformly spelled on the records, on all documents bearing 
his signature, Sayword. 

32 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 66 

of this agreement provides that Sayword shall " inclose the said 
meeting-house with good sound plank slabs three inches thick and 
to batten the said plank sufficiently on the outside and to civer it 
with good inch boards on the topp, & with inch & ^ boards under- 
neath," etc. ; the seats to be removed from the old meeting-house to 
the new at the town's charge and Sayword engages "to place them 
[in the new] at his own charge for the most convenience." This con- 
tract was satisfactorily performed by Sayword, who received from 
the town, as compensation, three hundred and seventy acres of land, 
twenty of which was " a grassy swampe " ; another parcel containing 
one hundred and seventy acres; also twenty poles of land to be 
added to his home lot, together with the privilege of cutting logs on 
certain parcels of land, and other minor privileges. 

Sometime during the year 1668 Say word's mills were destroyed 
by fire — a misfortune by which he became financially embarrassed. 
He concluded not to rebuild in York, if he could obtain a situation 
where the water-power was greater and better facilities offered for 
enlarging his business than were in prospect if he rebuilt on the 
site hitherto improved by him. Hearing of the excellent water- 
powers on the Mousam River, then known as the Cape Porpus 
River, he visited this locality, and an examination of the privilege 
which he afterward improved, led him at once to take measures for 
its possession. On making known to the town authorities of Wells 
his desire to erect mills here, if suitable encouragement were given 
him, he was met with a hearty welcome and with a proposition so 
liberal that he could not for a moment hesitate about its Acceptance. 

January 4, i66g, the town granted to Henry Sayword and James 
Johnson, of York, and Thomas Paty, of Wells, " liberty to build a 
saw-mill at Cape Porpus River falls, together with privilege of the 
said river for the transporting of boards and logs, also liberty to cut 
pitch-pine timber upon the commons adjoining the river, for the use 
of said mill," for which they were to pay to the town five pounds 
sterling yearly, on the last day of May, in merchantable boards, 
delivered at some convenient landing-place in the town. On the 
same day the town granted to Henry Sayword three hundred acres 
of upland, lying on the northeast side, and one acre, adjoining 
the falls, on the west side of the Cape Porpus River, and also to 
James Johnson and Thomas Paty each one hundred acres of upland, 
" lying on the northeast side of Cape Porpus River, out of any man's 
propriety." 



34 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Sayword and his companions commenced operations without 
loss of time, the initiatory step being the erection of a dwelHng- 
house which stood on the bank of the river, opposite the beginning 
of the falls — in later years known as "Emerson's Falls" — on the 
land now owned by Mrs. Jefferson Sargent. The remains of the 
cellar were distinctly visible a few years ago, but no trace of this 
excavation is now to be seen. The house was a rough structure, 
intended only as a shelter for the proprietors and their operatives. 

Here and then, under the auspices of Henry Sayword, " Mousam 
Village " was founded. Within its present boundaries, aside from the 
zigzag "Saco path," there were no signs of civilization. The forest 
in all its stateliness and gloom stood there, as it had for centuries 
before, and the land it covered was a part of the great Indian hunt- 
ing-ground. Indians and wild beasts had hitherto held entire and 
undisturbed possession of the domain. With such surroundings the 
first white settlers commenced the work of improvement ; brought 
to the ground the first tree that had ever fallen on this territory by 
the agency of the white man ; obstructed the free flowing of waters 
where they had rolled along for centuries unimpeded, and built a 
domicile, the first in this vicinity after the fashion of the "pale- 
face" settlers. These pioneers were respectable men, could read 
and write passably well, and each of them we have reason to believe 
was correct in his habits. Johnson, whose home was in Hampton, 
N. H., was a millwright and had been a partner with Sayword in 
carrying on the mill at York; Paty was a weaver by profession, an 
inhabitant of Wells, and a careful, industrious and intelligent citizen. 
The house made tenantable and the dam — a low, inexpensive 
structure — erected, preparations were made for the construction of 
the mill. At this point it was necessary to fix upon a plan — embrac- 
ing all the details as to size, equipment, etc., etc., — of the contem- 
plated buildings. Sayword would have a mill of large dimensions, 
v/ith two saws, and, this completed, would put up a corn-mill,^ with 
two sets of millstones, which would, altogether, form an establish- 
ment that would equal, if not outvie, any other devoted to similar 
uses in this part of the country. Johnson and Paty were more 

1 The bviildlng of a grist-mill in the wilderness, by Sayword, was not so rash an 
undertaking as our first impressions would lead us to consider it. His employees 
were to be provided with meal; some custom would undoutedly be obtained from 
the natives. It was not visionary to suppose that his mills and the frequent visits 
of coasters to the landing-place would cause an increase of settlers in the vicinity, 
and the crews of the coasters, besides the supplies required on shipboard, might 
be expected, in the then scarcity of such mills in the country, to bring corn or 
grain to be ground for home use and perhaps for their neighbors. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 35 

moderate in their views ; the outlook to them was far from encour- 
aging ; a considerable part of the machinery, as well as of the 
provisions, must be bought on credit, and there were many other 
indispensable articles of merchandise that must be so purchased, 
all of which would aggregate a large sum, for the payment of which 
they had no ready means. Sayword was sanguine, Johnson and 
Paty timid and faithless. The result was that Johnson and Paty 
declined to proceed and the partnership was dissolved. They were, 
doubtless, somewhat influenced in their decision by the reckless 
manner in which Sayword managed his private affairs. Before the 
dam had been completed, July 12, 1670, he purchased, condition- 
ally, of Daniel Epps, three farms, ^ upland and meadow, formerly the 
property of John Gooch, Sr., Samuel Austin, Thomas Mussell or 
Mussey, and so much of the land bought by him of the Wadleighs 
as lay between Cape Porpus and Kennebunk Rivers. There were 
no buildings on these lands. 

Johnson withdrew on the twenty-third of December, 1670, 
receiving one bill of twenty pounds "in full satisfaction both and as 
well of all work the said Johnson hath wrought and done for said 
Sayword before the date hereof," and also " in full of all the right 
and interest said Johnson had by virtue of any grant or grants here- 
tofore granted to him by the town of Wells," relinquishing all rights 
in the property and improvements and acquitting Sayword of "all 
debts and dues" whatsoever. Paty withdrew a few days later and 
conveyed to Sayword all his right in the privileges and land which 
the copartners received from the town of Wells (reserving the grant 
to himself by the town of one hundred acres), Sayword granting to 

^One farm of two hundred and fifty acres of upland and thirty or forty acres 
of marsh, on the southeast side of Cape Porpus River, adjoining John Sanders, 
which Epps bought of John Gooch, Sr., in 16(52; a farm of two hundred acres of 
upland and fifteen of marsh, on the Oape Porpus River, adjoining upland and 
marsh formerly held by Sanders and Gooch, which Epps bought of Samuel Austin 
In 1662; a farm of two hundred acres, bought of Thomas Mussell (sometimes writ- 
ten Mussey), on the northeast side of Oape Porpus River, "beginning below Ed- 
mund Llttlefleld's marsh [known afterward as Wise's pasture], and running four 
poles in breadth up river and toward Kennebunk River in length." Besides these 
" farms " Epps conveyed to Sayword such part of the land that he bought of John 
and Robert Wadleigh, in March, 1659, "as lies between Oape Porpus and Kennebunk 
Rivers, from the sea wall to the Great Falls that are by estimation seven or eight 
miles up in the country," the land "only excepted that lyeth In the possession of 
Buckeland, Daniel Pearse, Wm. Symands and John Gheater." In December, 1670, 
Epps sold to Simon Lynde, of Boston, for about twelve hundred dollars, all his 
Interest in these lands and also in the covenant between himself and Sayword 
respecting them, which stipulated that the grantee should pay to the grantor, 
within six years, three hundred pounds sterling in merchantable boards, at fifty 
shillings per thousand, delivered in Boston; failing to fulfill this contract then 
the said lands to be returned to the said Epps, his heirs or assigns. 



36 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

him (Paty) "the right to cut logs on Sayword's lands, the free use 
of one saw in the mill, when completed, to saw such logs as he may 
cut and bring to the mill," and also "to cut grass and make hay 
upon that marsh that the said Sayword hath by virtue of the general 
court's order, up in the county, out of the bounds of the town of 
Wells," sufficient for eight oxen. 

Sayword proceeded with his work, adhering to his original plan, 
but before the saw-mill was completed, June 20, 1672, one Robert 
Gibbs, of Boston, to whom Sayword was indebted in the sum of four 
hundred pounds sterling, presented his claim for payment, in satis- 
faction of which Sayword gave him a mortgage of " all that my 
dwelling-house, with my mill I am now building at Wells, together 
with all my lands lying and being between Cape Porpus River and 
Kennebunk River, being about a mile broad and a mile in length, 
be it more or less" (derived from a grant by the town of Wells). 

Sayword toiled on, and during the summer of 1673 completed 
his mill. Then, in September of that year, came Simon Lynde, of 
Boston, with a large claim upon Sayword, who, "in consideration of 
sundrey valewable somes of money," which he justly owed the 
claimant, gave him a mortgage of one-half part of all his " house- 
ing, saw-mill, corn-mill, .... which said mills are situate at a 
place called by me Mousam Mills, being upon or near to the river 
commonly called Cape Porpus River, together with the half-part of 
all and every my several tracts of lands and meadows, .... part 
thereof being purchased by me and part thereof being given and 
granted to me by the hon. general court of the Massachusetts 
colony and by the town of Wells," together with the several farms 
and tracts of land and meadow which he conditionally bought of 
Daniel Epps, already assigned to said Lynde by said Epps, the said 
Sayword now assenting thereto. 

How long Sayword operated these mills is not known, but it 
appears to be quite certain that he could not have done so, in per- 
son, later than the middle of the summer of 1674; — perhaps he 
employed Henry Brown and James Oare^ to operate them until the 
first of June, 1675, inasmuch as at this time he conveyed to them, 
in consideration of "a parcel of work by me already accepted," two 
hundred acres of land, being twenty rods downward from the mill 

^Spelled on the records, in different instruments, Carr, Tare and Torr. If 
there was a James Carr resident in Wells between the years 1669 and 1675, it is 
certain he had no connection with these mills as owner of any part of them or of 
the contiguous land, or as a master workman. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 37 

house at " Mowsome," ^ to the "first hill, where the path goeth up a 
little Ashen swamp," at the foot of the hill, "and so to run back- 
wards into the woods from the water side, until the two hundred 
acres are completed." 

An agreement between Henry Say word, " of York," and Barthol- 
omew Gedney, of Salem, Mass., and a deed, Sayword to Gedney, both 
dated October 14, 1674, declare that they are joint and equal part- 
ners in the purchase of a tract of land and river from Westcustogo 
Falls, now North Yarmouth, to the head of the river, extending two 
miles on each side,^ in Casco Bay, and, also, " in the new mills, viz. : 
one saw-mill, with two saws, and one corn-mill, that are now build- 
ing" thereon, that Gedney has disbursed his full share for the 
building of said mills, that Sayword, having " already set up a dam 
upon the first falls and raised the frame for a saw-mill and corn- 
mill," engages to " completely build up the said mills, to substan- 
tially finish the dam," and to build and finish a dwelling "suitable 
to entertain such workmen as may be employed in managing the 
mills," the whole work to be completed about the middle of May, 
1675, ^"'d, also, to give Gedney a mortgage deed of his, Sayword's 
half-part of the mills, etc. ; the condition being that Sayword shall 
deliver to Gedney one hundred and ten thousand merchantable pine 
boards, at specified dates, the last named being September, 1677; 
failing to fulfill this obligation, the entire mills, etc., to become the 
property of Gedney, who shall rent his part of the mills to Sayword 
on conditions specified in the aforesaid agreement. 

Sayword died in or about the year 1677, and of course did not 
complete the mills or fulfill the condition of his mortgage to Ged- 
ney. Probably the whole property came into the possession of 
Gedney for advances made by him, and Sayword had toiled for 
naught at Westcustogo, as he did at Mousam, The history of this 
energetic and ambitious man is a sad one. He had labored assid- 
uously for years, depriving himself and family of the comforts of 
life; he had suffered anxiety in consequence of the imperious 
demands of his creditors, and died leaving his estate irretrievably 
embarrassed. It appears, however, that his family were not left 
penniless ; under the provisions of law the widow was entitled to and 
received a portion of his estate at Westcustogo. He never moved 

•The writer of this deed undoubtedly spelled this word as it was pronounced 
at that time. 

^Possession of this tract was given to Sayword and Gedney, "according to 
law, by Turff and Twigg." 



38 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

his family to Kennebunk. In all legal instruments signed by him 
and in all instruments in which reference is made to him, he is said 
to be "of York." He left Westcustogo broken down and sick and 
returned to his home in York, where he died a few months later. 
He left three children, two sons and a daughter,, all of whom, 
together with their mother, remained in York during their natural 
lives. There are, doubtless, among the many respectable persons in 
the ancient town of York who answer to the name of Sayward or 
Sayword, some who can trace their lineage to Henry, of Mousam 
mills memory, and his wife Mary. 

The conflicting claims of mortgagees of the mills and other 
property in Kennebunk were before the courts three or four years, 
and the contest was not settled until 1679 or 1680, when Jonathan 
Corwin ^ recovered judgment under Gibbs's mortgage (then held by 
Corwin), and took possession of the estate. He employed Brown 
and Oare ^ to operate the mills, which they did faithfully and profit- 
ably for more than seven years. They hnd in their employ several 
of their countrymen who were competent workmen, all of whom it 
is believed were in Sayword's employ while he was engaged in 
putting up the machinery in his mills, and afterward in operating 
them. Small coasting vessels came up to the landing-place, as they 
did while Sayword had the mills under his control, bringing needed 

' Oorwin gained an unenviable notoriety, a few years later, as one of the mag- 
istrates before whom several " witchcraft cases " were tried. 

^ From time immemorial the brook which runs through the lower part of the 
village and discharges its waters into the Mousam, near the " Leather Board 
Mills," has been known as " Scotchman's Brook." It is supposed to have derived 
its name from these men. They, with one Stuart, a Scotchman, an intimate 
friend of theirs, and perhaps others of the same nationality, built and occupied a 
rude dwelling-place on its banks. The statement that Brown and Oare had a 
grant of the land through which the brook runs is incorrect. Sayword's grant 
embraced all this portion of our territory. Brown and Oare's grant (1679), accord- 
ing to the surveyor's return, " begins next to Mr. John Oorwin's land, below the 
landing-place at Mousam, and so runs down the river, etc., including ten acres of 
marsh." We also find the record of a grant to Brown and Oarr (doubtless a mis- 
take, "Oarr" should have been written "Oare "), April 16, 1684, of "four or five 
acres of meadow land, on the western side of Mousam River, where they can find 
it without intrenching on any man's propriety." This grant was laid out to them 
and Stuart, April 23, 1686, " on a point joining to the lower falls, bounded by the 
river on the one side, and on the other side bounded with the brink of the hill at 
the north and with a little brook, and at the south end with a little brook, which 
doth contain about four acres and a quarter." No mention is made subsequently 
of this grant. Robert Stuart, above-named, had a grant (1681) of one hundred 
acres of upland and ten acres of marsh, on Kennebunk River, lying on the south- 
east side of the first-named grant to Brown and Oare, but it was never improved 
by him. Both Brown and Oare made marks for their signatures ; Stuart could 
write his name. Stuart, spelled in later days Stewart, or his near descendants 
probably settled in Wells, west of Little River, as the present residents of this 
name claim him as their ancestor. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 39 

supplies of all kinds and taking the lumber that had been sawed 
here to other ports. A blacksmith's shop was added to the works, 
which was built on the west side of the river. Everything 
appears to have gone on smoothly and prosperously until 1688, 
when, during an Indian outbreak the savages destroyed the mills 
and all other buildings belonging to the concern. The employees 
fled, and for many years the forest did not again echo the sounds 
produced by machinery or the voices of busy workmen. The foot- 
fall of the white man, excepting, perhaps, that of a casual visitor, 
was not heard in this locality for nearly forty years, and during this 
"march of time" Corwin had left the active scenes of life; contest- 
ing claimants and unsecured creditors had also passed along to the 
unseen world or relinquished their rights as valueless ; the conditions 
of many of the grants of land, within the territory under considera- 
tion, had been broken, and these lands had reverted to the town 
and had been granted to other persons. 

From the time when Sayword's mills were destroyed (1688), 
until one-fourth part of the years of the seventeenth century had 
been numbered, the falls on which these mills had stood were 
untrammeled by dams or booms ; the water flowed over the rocks, 
in its oceanward course, as free and unrestrained as had been its 
wont through all the centuries since the river's bed had been formed. 
The site of our present village was a dense forest, excepting a 
small space east and north of the mill yard, where trees had been 
felled to supply logs for the saw, leaving stumps and brushwood — 
those sorry features in any landscape — and excepting, also, paths 
leading to the landing-place on the Mousam, to the Larrabee settle- 
ment and thence to the Great Neck, to the first sands (Gooch's 
Beach), and the "Saco path," leading by Littlefield's mill site, and 
the path thence to Storer's mill farther down the Kennebunk, which 
it is more than probable was continued to the mouth of the river. 

For forty years the valuable water-power that was improved by 
Sayword had been entirely neglected, it is reasonable to suppose 
chiefly, if not altogether, from fear of complications growing out of 
claims that might be presented by the heirs or assigns of Corwin, 
but now (1728) there seemed to be no ground for apprehensions of 
this description, and a grant was made, by the "proprietors," of the 
old mill lot to Joseph Hill and John Storer, which was laid out and 
the bounds renewed, " as formerly of three hundred acres of land 
on the northeast side of Mousam River, adjoining the river and falls. 



40 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and one acre on the west side, with all the privileges of the fall 
and river, which was formerly granted unto Henry Sayword, of 
York." 

The bounds of said lot— " in breadth by the river two hundred 
and sixty rods and so running back east-north-east two hundred 

rods beginning below the old landing-place at Mousam, some few 

rods below the mouth of a brook running into the river by the land- 
ing-place, and so running up two hundred and sixty rods, which is 
about twenty rods above a certain turn in the river, near the path 
going to the Upper Mousam Mills, from thence east-north-east two 
hundred rods, and also from a certain white pine,^ marked, below 
the landing-place and brook first named, to run two hundred rods 
east-north-east and then to run to the upper corner bounds, so the 
river being the bounds on the one side and the trees towards Kenne 
bunk river on the other side." The northern boundary was "by the 
river, below the old wading-place, some small distance from where 
the old mills formerly stood, and so down by the river." The one 
acre on the west side is described as "beginning a little above where 
the old boom formerly was, and so from the river four rods and 
then down by the river forty rods." A highway "from where the 
old boom formerly was to the landing-place," was to be reserved as 
required in the original grant. Hill and Storer built a saw-mill on 
the old site, in 1730, which was very successfully operated for 
several years. "The Gut," so-called, opposite John H. Ferguson's 
home lot, was the race-course of this mill, or the canal along which 
the water was conveyed to the river from its water-wheel. The 
business activity of by-gone years was now resumed. Vessels came 
up to the landing-place bringing such suppUes as were desired, and 
taking away the manufactured lumber, or so much of it as was not 

iThis pine was a gigantic tree and was justly regarded as one of tlie "mon- 
arclis of tlie forest." It was, at the time of this survey, evidently very old and 
fast decaying. Not many years subsequently, the tree was blown down, breaking 
off some twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. This stump stood many years, 
an object of considerable interest on account of its size and because it marked 
the seaward terminus of the highway and of the original mill lot. Near the com- 
mencement of the last century two young men (Joseph Marsh, a clerk in the 
store of Joseph Storer, and George Perkins) walked down to the landing-place 
one day, and while there Marsh drew a " sun-glass " from his pocket and, playfully 
remarking that he would burn up the old stump, held it so as to bring the rays of 
the sun to bear on a dry and rotten portion of it, which soon ignited and burned 
slowly. After watching it awhile, the young men left it, thinking the Are would 
soon find solid wood and go out; it continued to burn, however, a day or more, 
until it was extinguished by a heavy rain, but not before its altitude had been 
reduced to between three and four feet. This is the history of the " old stump," a 
boundary mark, near a fishing-boat station and the object of many conjectures. 
It is still to be seen, but greatly diminished in size from its original dimensions. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 41 

needed for home consumption. How long this mill was in operation 
is not known. It was seriously injured by a freshet, the precise 
date of which we are not able to learn. Traditional accounts differ, 
some fixing it at 1740, others five years later. A remnant of the 
mill was standing in 1750, but so thoroughly shattered that an 
attempt to repair it was considered unadvisable, especially as the 
dam and boom had almost entirely disappeared. 

In 1 741 Ichabod Cousens procured the survey and renewal of 
the bounds of a tract of land which he bought of the heirs of Jona- 
than Corwin, containing two hundred and two acres and lying on 
the northeast side of Mousam River, being about two-thirds of the 
tract granted to Sayword in 1669. It had been fully fifty years 
since Corwin or his heirs had made any movement for the mainte- 
nance of Corwin's ownership of this property under Gibbs's mort- 
gage, and it was supposed that it had been abandoned, or legally 
forfeited to the town ; the land and privilege had been regranted by 
the town and a saw-mill had been erected on the privilege. The 
heirs of Corwin now came forward (1741) and claimed all that had 
been conveyed by Sayword to Gibbs in 167 1. It appears that the 
validity of Corwin's title was acknowledged, whether without, or 
after, litigation, we have not sought to obtain information. Ichabod 
Cousens sold his purchase to Thomas Cousens, Joseph Storer and 
Joseph Coburn; Coburn sold his interest to Storer, and Cousens 
sold nearly all of his part to Jamc^s Kimball, commencing at the spot 
where the Bryant house now stands and running, as the road ran, to 
the eastern side of Mr. Sidney T. Fuller's lot "on the hill." How 
far back, riverward, this lot ran we have not ascertained. Storer 
and Hill obtained possession of the privilege and mill. We shall 
have occasion to refer to this subject again. 



CHAPTER V. 

1 680- 1 700 KENNEBUNK RIVER MILLS, MILLS AT MOUSAM, GREAT 

FALLS AND LITTLE RIVER COXHALL GRANTS ON OR NEAR 

MOUSAM, KENNEBUNK AND LITTLE RIVERS. 

The town of Wells, March 16, 1680, made grants of one hun- 
dred acres of upland, adjoining or near " Kennebunk River Great 
Falls," to each of the following named persons : Edmund Littlefield, 
Nicholas Cole, Nathan Littlefield and Samuel Littlefield. Edmund 
Littlefield's lot, as laid out, was " eightscore rods in breadth by the 
river, beginning fourscore rods above the falls and so to run down- 
ward, and to run back from the river upon a southeast line." Cole's 
was laid out next below Littlefield's lot, eightscore rods in breadth 
by the river, and running back upon a southwest line one hundred 
rods ; Nathan Littlefield's was next to Cole's, eightscore rods and to 
run back one hundred rods; Samuel Littlefield's was laid out next 
above Edmund Littlefield's lot, one hundred rods in breadth by the 
river, and running back south-southwest eightscore rods. Edmund 
and Nathan Littlefield and Cole had included in each of their grants 
ten acres of meadow land, "where it can be found undisposed of." 
These grants were not laid out until May, 1681. 

On the ninth of April, 1681, the above-named Edmund^ and 
his brother Joseph obtained from the town of Cape Porpus a grant 
of one hundred acres of upland on the northeast side of Kennebunk 
River, "as near as may be to the upper falls, near the Indian Plant- 
ing Ground for the purpose of building mills," etc." 

Edmund and his copartners, by this grant, obtained all the neces- 
sary facilities for building a dam, etc. 

A saw-mill was erected on the western side of these falls in 
1681-82, of which, it appears, Edmund, Joseph, Nathan and Samuel 

'Edmund and Joseph were sons of Francis Littlefield, Sr., and of course 
grandsons of the pioneer Edmund. 

■Bradbury. He further states that these grantees "agreed to build a grist- 
mill upon condition that there should not be another built in town," to which 
stipulation Oape Porpus assented, and that they built mills " higher up the river." 
If so, the site of " Nason's Mills " ( now Charles H. Walker's) must have been then 
improved, probably by Joseph and Edmund. 

42 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 43 

were joint proprietors. This mill stood very near the spot now 
occupied by "Bartlett's Mills." Other buildings, for the accommo- 
dation of the workmen, cattle, etc., must have been put up, at the 
same time, in the immediate vicinity, but they were undoubtedly 
rude structures. Our information respecting this first improvement 
of the water-power on the Kennebunk River is extremely meager. 
The larger part of the boards sawn there were rafted down the river 
and thence shipped for a market, and most of the supplies for the 
employees, etc., were probably received at the same point, although 
it is quite probable that some part of the lumber manufactured at 
these mills was carted to the landing on the Mousam and thence 
shipped, and that a portion of their supplies was landed there. 
These mills and all adjacent buildings were burned by the Indians 
near the commencement of the war known as King William's 
(August 13, 1688-January 7, 1699). The settlers took refuge in 
the nearest garrison houses, and for several years thereafter no 
attempt was made to till the earth or improve the water-power within 
our present village boundaries. 

While the operations narrated in the foregoing paragraph were 
in progress, a mill was erected on Little River, and enterprising 
citizens were taking initiatory steps toward the improvement of the 
water-power at the Great Falls on the Mousam. On the sixth of 
December, 1681, the town granted to William Frost one hundred 
acres of upland, "being next to Abraham Tilton's land, near the 
Little River going to Mousam," and on the ninth of the following 
May a grant was made to William Frost and Jonathan Hammond of 
one hundred acres of land as near as may be to Little River Great 
Fails, on the west side of the river, and two acres on the east 
side, "convenient to the said falls for the fastening of dam, boom 
or mill," with liberty "to build a saw-mill or mills"; for this 
privilege they were to pay to the town annually five pounds in 
merchantable boards, delivered at a convenient landing-place, at 
current prices, and "to saw all such white pine logs to the halves 
.... that good men settled in the town shall seasonably bring to 
the mill .... so far as the saw-mill is capable." This grant was 
laid out, beginning forty-five rods from the land that was formerly 
John Wells's, at or near the path that goes to Mousam. 

Joseph Littlefield was admitted as a joint partner in this grant 
and the three proprietors proceeded at once to build a saw-mill, 
which was completed in 1683. In September, 16S5, Frost sold to Lewis 



44 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Allen the one hundred acres of upland granted to him in 1681, and 
all his interest (one-third) in this mill, upland and privilege, for sixty- 
two pounds. On the " second day of December and in the first year 
of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James the second of England, 
Scotland, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith," etc. 
(1685), Hammond and Littlefield sold to Nicholas Cole, for four 
pounds and fifteen shillings, two-thirds of one hundred acres above 
the saw-mill (excepting three acres set apart for the owners of the 
mill). 

July 23, 1683. The town granted to James Ross one hundred 
acres of upland, " situated and being on the northeast side of the 
river now known and called by the name of Little River, near Wil- 
liam Frost's grant near the Great Falls, .... which is below the saw- 
mill which is now building upon the said river." Ross admitted 
Joseph Littlefield as a ''joint partner" in the grant of land, and they 
proceeded to erect a saw-mill which was completed in January 1684. 

May 14, 1692. The town granted to John Wheelwright, Joseph 
Taylor and Thomas Cole, liberty to build one or two saw-mills upon 
Mousam Great Falls, with liberty to cut timber on the Commons 
" suitable for boards and other occasions," with liberty to build, set 
and fasten dam or dams, boom or booms to said mill or mills. 
These falls were known in the early history of the town as " Fluel- 
len's Falls." Of this grant Wheelwright was proprietor of one-half 
part and Taylor and Cole of one-quarter part each. The grantees 
built a saw-mill before the close of the century. We have no details 
concerning it. Our authority is the fact that in 1701 the selectmen 
of Wells and a committee of the proprietors of Coxhall ran the line 
between Coxhall and Wells and described it as follows: "begin at 
the head of a gully at a white oak tree, at the upper corner of the 
gully above the Great Falls where the mill now stands, and from 
said river," etc. 

The tract of land now embraced within the bounds of the town 
of Lyman was sold, "before the inhabitants had become subject to 
Massachusetts" (1653), by Sosowen, an Indian sagamore of Saco, 
to John Sanders (the first settler in Kennebunk, but then a resident 
in Cape Porpus), Peter Turbat and John Bush, also of Cape Porpus, 
which was described as "Coxhall, now called Swanfield, lying be- 
yond Wells," and as being four miles square.^ This sale was subse- 
quently confirmed by Sosowen's son, Fluellen Sumptimus, also of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 45 

Saco. Although the Great Falls and a large strip of territory ad- 
joining them were not included in this conveyance and were never 
claimed by the grantees, the transient settlers in the vicinity probably 
regarded it — in the then imperfect knowledge of titles and bounds 

as within Fluellen's claim; hence the name given them. Sanders 

and his two associates sold this tract to Harlackinden Symonds 
(whose name appears in our early records as a large landowner in 
Wells, on both sides of the Mousam), by whom it was deeded in 1661 
to his father, Samuel Symonds, of Ipswich, Mass. The latter, in 1668, 
conveyed his title to Roger Haskins and thirty-five others, by which 
company and the heirs of its members it was held, chiefly, for nearly 
a century before the settlers upon the territory comprised within the 
limits of Coxhall (Lyman) were sufficiently numerous to entitle them 
to the designation of a hamlet. It was not incorporated until 1780, 
and then under the name of Coxhall, 

To return to Mousam Great Falls. Positive evidence we have 
not, nor can such ever be obtained, to support the conjecture that 
the land in the vicinity of these falls and of Alewive Brook was 
improved many years before the date of the grant to Wheelwright 
and others (1692), but it is believed that the records of Wells, 
imperfect as they are, supply facts and suggestive references and 
hints that abundantly sustain this idea, viz.: in the now obsolete names 
given to certain brooks and other localities, the meanings of which 
are not now understood, and the names of the originators of which 
are unrecorded, unknown and untraceable. That these names were 
attached to these localities, many years before the permanent settle- 
ment of Wells, is apparent from the fact that they appear in the 
earliest conveyances made thereafter. One can hardly resist the 
conclusion, after a careful examination of the ancient records, that 
there were many temporary settlers, whites, on the interior portion of 
our territory at a very early date, nearly contemporary with the 
first known settlers on the coast. All the immigrants who landed at 
Saco, under Vines's management of affairs, from 1616 to 1625, it 
may safely be assumed, did not make Saco or its neighborhood a 
permanent abiding place. Doubtless there were among them uneasy 
and idle persons who preferred a nomadic life, with its semi-bar- 
baric habits and pleasures, to the steady application required for 
the occupant of a fixed habitation, obtaining a livelihood by the mo- 
notonous routine of a farmer's or a fisherman's vocation ; nor is it a 
visionary supposition that these persons in their wanderings should 
have visited that portion of our territory now known as the Alewives 



46 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and the Plains, as well as the region roundabout (only some ten or 
twelve miles from their landing-place), and here found a spot of 
earth precisely adapted to their wishes. No more inviting situation 
could have been selected for the hunter or trapper. The forest and 
the vicinity of the rivers and brooks abounded with game and the 
streams with fish; deer, moose and all the smaller wild animals usu- 
ally found in northern woods ; otter, muskrat and beaver on the 
banks of streams. Beavers, especially, were here in extraordinarily 
large numbers. Beaver dams were found in every direction beside 
all the rivers and their tributaries, so that, for many years after our 
territory had become well settled, they were prominent and frequent 
bound-marks for the land surveyors, and we may add, in passing, 
that even at this day vestiges of them are by no means rare. The 
salmon and numerous other fishes tenanted the streams, and birds in 
countless variety built their nests in the trees and shrubs as well as on 
the ground. The scenery — forest, meadow and water— was delight- 
ful. For sport or for reverie, for camp comforts and camp stories, 
for dozing life's days away in dreamy listlessness, what location 
could be more desirable.'' That rude cabins and more fragile tents, 
occupied by thoughtless and improvident white men, stood in the 
vicinity of these falls before John Sanders reared his humble dwell- 
ing near Hart's Beach, there is good ground for belief. 

The now unmeaning and obsolete names of brooks and other 
localities, of which we have previously spoken, were retained a number 
of years by our earliest known settlers, and were even used occasion- 
ally in descriptions of boundaries. The natural inference is that the 
interior portion of the town was temporarily occupied by white men 
several years anterior to the commencement of its written history, 
and that those whom we have regarded as pioneers in its occupancy 
possessed traditionary evidence, at least, of this fact. 

In 1 69 1 — a year before the grant to Wheelwright and others — 
reference is made, in a vote passed at a town meeting in Wells, "to 
the path which now is from Mousam Mills to Coxhall line." A saw- 
mill was built at Great Falls about 1700. It is difficult to imagine 
where the lumber manufactured at this mill found a market, as the 
home demand must have been quite limited, unless it was drawn 
over this "path" to Mousam Landing and shipped thence. 

May 14, 1694. The town granted to David Littlefield, Samuel 
Hatch and William Frost, fifty acres of upland, at the Little River 
at Maryland, beginning about halfway between the two falls on the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 47 

river, just below the meadow joining Francis Littlefield's land, 
together with the upper falls next to said meadow, with liberty to 
build a saw-mill and to cut timber on the commons and privilege 
for a highway to transport their boards. 

March 27, 1695. The town granted to Samuel Wheelwright, 
Jonathan Hammond, Eliab Littlefield and John Butland, liberty to 
build a saw-mill at the Little River, next below the falls granted to 
David Littlefield and others (1694), together with two hundred 
acres of land lying on the side of the river, near the falls, with cus- 
tomary privileges. 

November 22, 1699. The town granted to Lieut. Joseph Storer 
"the lower salt water falls at Kennebunk River, for the building of 
a saw-mill or mills, with the usual privilege of cutting timber, and 
also one hundred acres of land joining to said falls." The land was 
laid out December 28, 1699, as follows: — "beginning at a hemlock 
tree, about two rods below the falls, on the side of the hill or bank, 
running from the river to the west by west line and no rods in 
breadth up the river until it runs to the northwest side of a creek, at 
the river, and runs back on a S. VV. by W. line until the 100 acres 
be completed." 

November 22, 1699. A grant was made to Nicholas Cole of 
one hundred acres of land at Kennebunk River, above Storer's land, 
leaving four rods for a highway and landing-place next to Storer's 
land — "beginning at a highway joining to Joseph Storer's land, 
running S. W. by W. to a marked tree on N. W. side of the river 
and so runs in breadth up the river 120 rods to a marked tree, etc., 
until the 100 acres be completed." 

The following list, it is believed, comprises all the town grants 
and transfers by grantees, not noticed in the preceding pages, from 
1642 to 1700. Undoubtedly there were others which were not re- 
corded, but we rarely find reference to such within our territorial 
limits. The grants, etc., on both sides of Little River have been 
given in order that a just idea may be obtained of the business 
movements in our immediate vicinity in the years now long gone by. 
A synopsis of the descriptive portion of grants is frequently given, 
which will enable the curious to locate the sites of the mills spoken 
of, as well as the tracts of land that were, at the time, by residents 
and visitors, considered most desirable for occupancy or speculation, 
and perhaps enable them to trace the ownership of these estates up 
to the present time. 



48 history of kennebunk. 

On or Near Mousam River. 

1675, May 4. Grants of one hundred acres of upland and ten 
of marsh, to John Bates, on the west side of Capeporpus River. 

1675, ^I^y 4- To Samuel Storer, one hundred acres of upland 
and ten of marsh, on the west side of the river. No record of the 
laying out of this grant. 

1683, May 23. To Joseph Taylor, of Wells, one hundred acres 
"near the head of the town." 

1684, August 25. To Benjamin Curtis, one hundred acres on 
western side of. (No record of the laying out of this grant.) 

1685, May 25. To Ralph Andrews, at Mousam, next to Ben- 
jamin Curtis's grant. 

1693, December 23. To Thomas Cole, one hundred acres of 
upland and ten of marsh, near the head of the town. 

1699, March 20. To Joseph Taylor, ten acres of meadow or 
marsh joining to or near. It has generally been supposed that this 
lot was laid out at Cat Mousam, in the rear of the fields now held 
by George T. Jones and the heir of the late Elisha Mitchell. This 
is incorrect. The lot was laid out April 28, 1701, as follows: — "ten 
acres of marsh or meadow land on the western side of Mousam River, 
about a mile below the head of the flowing of the salt water, lying in 
two several parts, the upper piece, containing three acres, being a 
certain cove or piece of marsh joining the said river and bounded 
with the upland on the other side and at each end where the upland 
runs in points to said river, a brook running down out of the woods 
through said marsh, — the lower piece beginning at a marked tree and 
to run on the south end of a small pond in the marsh, and so runs to a 
stake by the river's side and runs to the mouth of a large creek," etc. 

On or Near Kennebunk River. 

1 68 1, April 27. Grant to Gilbert Endicott, sixty acres of upland 
on west side of the river, being part of three hundred acres granted 
Eleazer Hathorne, August 14, 1679. Forfeited to the town. 

1684, June 9. Nathan Littlefield conveys to William Taylor the 
lot of land near Kennebunk River Falls and next below Nicholas Cole, 
Junior's land, which was granted to said Littlefield March 16, 1680, 
— eightscore rods in breadth and running back one hundred rods. 

1685, May 25. To William Taylor, about six acres "whitch are 
some sartayne poynts of land running into the said Taylor's marsh, 
which he bought of John Butland, joyneing to Kennebunk River." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 49 

1694, March 14. Grant to James Wakefield of one hundred 
acres of upland at Kennebunk River, "beginning at William Tay- 
lor's land," etc. This grant was forfeited, but renewed November 
22, 1699. Laid out October 3, 1702, as follows: "Beginning at 
Wm. Taylor's land, by said river, and so to run down the river 160 
poles and to run back from the river 100 poles on a S. W. line, 
butting on several points of lowland and meadow by the river side 
belonging to said Taylor." 

1694, April 10. To Joseph Crediford, one hundred acres, 
adjoining Wakefield's grant, as above. 

1700, March 18. To Samuel Hill, one hundred acres, at Ken- 
nebunk River, next unto and above Nicholas Cole's land, "only 
leaving four poles for a highway from there backwards, 80 poles in 
breadth up the river's side and back on the same line as the other 
lots." (Storer's and Cole's.) 

1713. Town grants to Stephen Harding forty acres at the Wood 
Neck, joining his own land, twenty rods in breadth by the sea, and 
so to run up by his own land, etc. Twenty-eight acres of this grant 
were laid out for John Webber in 1748, beginning at north corner 
of Joseph Wormwood's land and running by east, north and west 
courses to Colonel Storer's land, it being part of the forty acres that 
were laid out upon Butland's Patten land. 

17 17. Samuel Littlefield sold to Stephen Harding thirty acres, 
beginning at Wood Neck, bounded on the west by said Harding's 
land, running one hundred rods west by the sea to the west end of 
the sands on the east end of Great Hill, and so up into the woods 
eight rods. 

The narrow strip of land, named by the earliest settlers " Wood 
Neck," commenced at the mouth of Kennebunk River, extended up 
river a short distance — perhaps a mile — and in breadth to the 
second sands. It' was heavily wooded, especially on the river's 
bank, as the stumps now seen at low water in the vicinity of the 
western pier satisfactorily attest. Why called "Neck?" Undoubt- 
edly the ocean has slowly been making inroads on our coast for 
centuries, and it is reasonable to suppose that this strip had not, in 
their day, succumbed to the action of the waves. The contour of 
the coast has been wonderfully changed in the centuries long past, 
as well as in the past century; — of this there is abundant evidence. 
When and where did this wearing away commence, and when and 
where will it end ? 



50 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



On or Near Little River. 



1670, June 24. To John Gooch, fifty acres lying between the 
branches of Little River. (This grant was subsequently laid out 
for John Wells, of Boston.) 

1679, August 14. To Elizabeth Look, one hundred acres at 
the three mile brook. 

1681, February 27. Thomas Littlefield sold to Joseph Littlefield 
one-fourth part of "my saw-mill and dam and all the appurtenances 
belonging to her, which is now standing upon the river or brook 
next to the dwelling-house of said Joseph." 

1683, July 23. To John Woodin, one hundred acres of upland 
and ten of marsh. 

1684, April 29. To Nicholas Morey, one hundred acres, on 
northeast side, above John Woodin's land. To Thomas Cousens, 
one hundred acres, below William Frost's land; — June 2. To John 
Barrett, Jr., one hundred acres "at the eastard of, joining to Cous- 
ens' grant" ; — July 3. Eighty acres on northeast side of, above the 
saw-mill and adjoining land (one hundred acres) granted to Thomas 
Cole, April 29, 1684, and twenty acres "beginning at the path going 
to Mousam and to run northwest by William Frost's land till it 
comes to a little hill opposite against the saw-mill.'" 

1685, September 16. "George Chambers (now of Wells)" sold 
to Benjamin Curtis, for three pounds, one hundred acres lying on 
the northeast side of, "beginning a little above the saw-mill which 
is now built upon said river." 

1686, April 29. To Nicholas Cole, Jr., one hundred acres, 
bounded on northwest by John Woodin's land and by town's high- 
way, etc. 

1688, May 21, Grant to William Frost, Senior, of fifty acres 
at the l^ittle River, "below the path that goes to Mousam on the 
north side of the northeast branch of said river"; and to William 
Frost, Junior, fifty acres adjoining the above described lot. 

1693, March 14. To Nathaniel Clark, fifty acres "lying and 
being between the tv/o branches of the easlwardmost Little River." 

1694, April 10. To Jeremiah Storer, one hundred acres on 
the north side of the north branch of, beginning one hundred rods 
below the path going to Mousam. 

1 701, March 17. Grant to William Sayer, Nicholas Cole, Jere. 
Storer and Thomas Weils, of liberty to build a saw-mill at a falls 
on, about a mile below the mill belonging to Jona. Hammond and 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 51 

Others, with the usual privileges of cutting timber, etc.; — April 28. 
Laid out for Joseph Taylor one hundred acres, "between the 
branches of, above the path going from the Town towards Mousam, 
and butting upon said path fifty rods in breadth, a little brook or 
spring of water running about the middle of the land." 

1702, April 24. Laid out for Joseph Sayer and Thomas Wells, 
"ten acres to each of them of marsh or swamp land, about a mile 
from the saw-mill that now stands on Little River, and lying on a 
small brook known as the northern branch of said river, beginning 
at a Beaver dam and an Elm," etc.; — October 17. Laid out for 
Nicholas Cole a lot of land, "beginning at the edge of, at the falls 
S. E. line down to Mousam path." 

17 14, March 18. Grant to Nathaniel Clark of fifty acres adjoin- 
ing his own land and east side of, thirty rods wide by the river. 

1 7 15, March 23. Grant to John Littlefield, one hundred acres 
on, at the head of the land that was his father's. 

1717, October 13. Laid out for Ichabod Cousens, under grant 
to his father, Thomas Cousens, one hundred acres on southwest 
side of, bounded by Mousam path, Nicholas Cole, etc., etc. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROI\I 1700 TO 1750 — THE CONDITION OF THE TERRITORY PROPOSED 

CESSION OF A PART OF IT TO COXHALL THE LARRABEES 

LARRABEE VILLAGE. 

Our territory, at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 
had for twelve years been included in the plantation, and for nearly 
fifty years had formed the eastern portion of the incorporated town 
of Wells. Small progress had been made in the work of its settle- 
ment. Mills had been erected within its borders, but these mostly 
had fallen a prey to Indian lawlessness, and with them the rude 
structures that had been built in the vicinity of each for the accom- 
modation and comfort of men and cattle employed in its operations. 
The forest remained nearly unbroken ; the grasses on some of the 
meadows had been gathered a few times, and here and there a 
small piece of land had been tilled and vegetables grown thereon; 
but very little attention had been given to the cultivation of the 
soil, if we except the acres held by the two residents at the sea- 
shore, who with their families aggregated some fifteen or twenty 
persons, and who, it is fair to presume, had made respectable prog- 
ress in bringing their respective home-lots to a farm-resembling 
condition. The Sayword mill property was still under a cloud; the 
Indian troubles afforded sufficient excuse for the non-fulfillment of 
the engagements of the grantees, so that their grants could not fairly 
be forfeited and revert to the town, and thus, for nearly a quarter of 
a century, the site of the present village remained an undisturbed 
wilderness. Still, much had been done to insure the prospective 
security and prosperity of the embryo town. The uncertainty that 
had existed respecting the validity of land titles, occasioned by the 
pretensions of Rigby's agent, had been removed, the incorporation 
of the town of Wells and the jurisdiction over the Province by 
Massachusetts were a "tower of strength" to all the inhabitants, 
inasmuch as they could well feel assured that they were under the 
protecting care of a government willing and able to render them 

52 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 53 

needed aid when in danger from the dreaded foe, and surely they 
must have "breathed easier" when the controversy in regard to the 
dividing line between Cape Porpus and Wells had been adjusted. 

The second Indian war had closed. Although the settlers had 
lost heavily, not only by the destructive ravages of the enemy, but 
by the paralyzing influence of the protracted and dreadful war upon 
every industrial pursuit, still the return of peace resuscitated at once 
their long dormant business energies. Mills that had been spared^ 
were set in motion, the Great Falls Company had completed its 
mill, and Storer in good earnest set about improving the lower mill 
site on the Kennebunk. 

Grants that had been unused and unrecorded for many years 
were brought forward, renewed and located. Little River and its 
vicinity, during the two last decades, had been attracting more 
attention from settlers, mill-men and speculators than any other part 
of the town, but now (i 700-1 750) the privileges and lands on and 
between the Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers were in great request; 
notwithstanding that, during the three Indian wars extending through 
periods aggregating eighteen years of the half-century under consid- 
eration, the inhabitants were constantly in danger and the procuring 
of a scanty sustenance was all that could be hoped for. 

Kennebunk, in these fifty years, attained a name^ and a stand- 
ing in respect to population and business interests that caused it to 
be included among the thriving and well-established communities in 
the Province; — a position it has continued to maintain up to the 
present time, although not without occasionally experiencing severe 
depressions, such as those produced by the two wars with a foreign 
power, inadequate returns for labor in consequence of unfavorable 
seasons, and the many comparatively inconsiderable losses and mis- 
haps to which all municipalities are subject and which it is hardly 
possible to avoid. 

' It was voted, at a town meeting held February 11, 1709, to abate the rents of 
"the two mills at Mereland, and the lower mill standing on the same river, in 
consideration of their being hindered by reason of the war." 

2 The grant of land, with the mill privileges, laid out for the Littleflelds and 
Oole in 1680-81, and the grant of land and mill privilege to Storer in 1699, on the 
Kennebunk River, were referred to in the old settlement as the " Kennebunk 
grants." "I am going," or "I have been, over to the Kennebunk grants," was 
the common expression of persons who visited this section during the building 
and operation of the mills first erected on these privileges respectively. When 
the number of grants and settlers had considerably Increased in other parts of 
the township, this designation was no longer strictly accurate, and from 1700 to 
1714 the word "grants "fell into disuse, and the territory between our principal 
rivers was spoken of as Kennebunk. 



54 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

That the forefathers of the town did not place a very high esti- 
mate on their land heritage is very clearly shown on our old records. 
It appears that the proprietors of Coxhall — a large and for the 
time wealthy company — were desirous of obtaining a liberal slice 
from our contiguous territory, as a gift, offering as an inducement to 
the good people of Wells the advantages that they might, in the 
future, derive from the settlement of a few families on the land. 
The argument seems to have been, — "If you will cede to us this 
strip of land, we will endeavor to induce persons to settle there, 
receiving from them, of course for our special benefit, the proceeds 
of all sales of land, of all taxes, etc., that may be paid by them, and 
you will get, as compensation, all the benefits that may accrue to 
you from those who may thus take up their abode in your neighbor- 
hood, on what is really now your own land, but which will have 
become our property and be within our jurisdiction," The argument 
was not entirely destitute of the quality of speciousness, nor of unwor- 
thy consideration, but it certainly is inconceivable how the citizens 
of Wells, after opportunity for careful consideration of the subject, 
could have regarded with favor a proposition so entirely one-sided, 
so perfectly absurd, and so destitute of ground for reasonable hope 
of any prospective advantage to the grantor, and could have been 
induced to make the proposal of which we give a summary in the 
following paragraph. Perhaps there were those among the Coxhall 
proprietors who had read ^'Esop's Fables, while the dwellers in 
Wells had not met with a copy of that work. 

At a meeting of the proprietors of the common and undivided 
lands in Wells, held May 20, 1717, a vote was adopted which, after 
reciting the fact that the town on the eighth of June, 1691, had 
granted to the owners of Coxhall a mile of land, the situation of 
which is described, on certain conditions which had not been per- 
formed, goes on to say : " We, being willing to encourage the settle- 
ment of said tract of land called Coxhall, have, upon the conditions 
herein specified, granted all our right, title and interest to a tract of 
land at the head of our township, lying between Mousam River and 
Kennebunk River, beginning a quarter of a mile northeast of the 
white oak tree which is at the head and at the upper corner of a 
gully, which is the bounds agreed upon between the township of 
Wells and Coxhall, and to run from said place at a quarter of a 
mile distance as aforesaid, from said tree upon a southeast line a 
mile, unless said line should cross the path which now is from 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 55 

Mousam mill, and if it comes to said path it is to be bounded 
thereby till the mile is completed, and from thence to run on a north- 
east line toward, but not to come within half a mile of Kennebunk 
River, from whence to run northwest until it meets the bounds of 
Coxhall ; — excepting, any former grants that may happen to lay on 
said tract; also excepting the privilege of falls and stream and of 
erecting dam or dams for flowing water for the benefit of mill or 
mills, sufficient room to lay logs and boards convenient thereto ; 
and, also way for bringing logs to and transporting boards from any 
mill or mills that may be built on Alewive Brook (in case it falls 
within this grant), and, also, excepting the privilege of cutting tim- 
ber upon said land, which is hereby reserved to the proprietors of 
the town of Wells, or any of them, and upon the further considera- 
tion that the proprietors of Coxhall settle four families within two 
years on said land, or two families in each year next after the two 
years abovesaid, and annually after that rate till there shall be as 
many families settled upon said granted land as there contains hun- 
dreds of acres on said grant — if inhabitants should hereafter build 
mills, dams, or booms on Mousam River, a convenient passage-way 
shall be left for logs to be transported down the river to the mill or 
mills that have been or shall be built on said river in the township 
of Wells. Non-compliance with any or all of these conditions ren- 
ders this grant void." These conditions were not complied with 
and the grant, consequently, was "null, void and of no effect." The 
document is interesting, however, inasmuch as we learn therefrom 
the proposed cession of a portion of our territory, the conditions on 
which it was to be made, and the estimation in which the water 
privileges at the Great Falls and on Alewive Brook were held by 
those who were prominent in conducting the affairs of the town 
nearly two centuries ago. 

Reference is made in an instrument dated March 6, 1702, to a 
"deed of sale from John Butland, now deceased, unto James Little- 
field,^ now deceased, father-in-law to Stephen Harding,- of that 
tract of land formerly granted by Mr. Henry Boad and Mr. Edward 
Rushworth to John Butland." The date of this grant is not given, 
but it must have been prior to 1653. It was no doubt the same 
tract previously granted to George Butland. It was now (1702) laid 
out to Stephen Harding, and bounded: "beginning at the mouth of 

' James Littlefleld was the son of Francis Littlefield, Sr., and was born October 
2, 16,o7. 

2 Harding married Abigail, daughter of James Littlefield, July 28, 1701. 



56 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Kennebunk River, running by the seashore on a "west line one mile 
to the western end of the second sands or beach, and so up into the 
woods, due north, three hundred poles, and on the east side joins on 
said river, heading at the mouth of a Cove, next below the lower 
narrows,. being three hundred poles up the river from the foot line, 
containing six hundred acres." After having occupied this estate 
thirty years or more, Butland sold it to Littlefield, about 1689, and 
removed to the village in Wells. This transfer was made during 
what is termed King William's War (1688 to 1699), when the Indi- 
ans were on the " war path." 

It is not supposed that Littlefield moved his family to a situation 
so isolated and exposed as was his new purchase, at a time when 
Indian atrocities were so frequent, and when there were constant ap- 
prehensions of an incursion by the wily and merciless foe. He was 
killed in i6go while at or on his way to or from this property. A 
letter from Roger Hill, of Biddeford, who was then stationed at the 
garrison in Wells, under date of "Wells, May 7, 1690," says : "The 
Indians killed Goodman Frost and James Littlefield, and carried 
away Nathaniel Frost, and burned several houses here." This let- 
ter was addressed to his wife, "in care of Capt. John HilV at Fort 
Mary, Saco," and it is believed furnishes the only evidence we have 
concerning Littlefield's death, the carrying away of Frost, or the 
burning of the houses. The letter gives no details, but of the entire 
credibility of its statements there can be no doubt. 

We find, however, that on the eighteenth of March, 1690, a party 
of French and Indians, under the command of Hertel de Rouville 
and Whoop Hood, a sachem, made an attack on Berwick, and killed 
about thirty of its inhabitants, besides making prisoners of fully fifty 
more, who were carried to Canada. They were pursued by one 
hundred and forty of our people, but with poor success ; a few were 
killed on both sides ; night came on and the pursuit was abandoned, 
the bloodthirsty invaders escaping with their prisoners and booty. 

^Oapt. John Hill was quite a prominent actor in the affairs of Wella during 
that Clark period in its history, from the commencement to the close of "King 
William's War." He was commissioned by Deputy Governor Danforth, of Massa- 
chusetts, in 1689, as ensign of a military company, and was given, very shortly 
after receiving his commission, the command of twenty soldiers quartered at 
Saco. We quote from the " Shores of Saco Bay " (from which we derive the facts 
stated in this note): "At Wells he distinguished himself in an engagement with 
the French and Indians and in consideration of heroic conduct was promoted to 
Lieutenant and subsequently to Captain, and was given the command of His 
Majesty's Forces at Fort Mary, Saco." [The engagement here spoken of— which 
must have occurred in the autumn of 1689, or early In the spring of 1690— is not 
mentioned on the Wells records, nor is it known that any document or tradition 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 57 

There was a large quantity of snow on the ground at the time and 
as our people were destitute of snowshoes it was found impossible to 
overtake the retreating foe. A portion of these invaders were lurk- 
ing in this vicinity several weeks. It is safe to say that it was by 
this party, or members of it, that Littlefield and Frost were mur- 
dered and the other atrocities mentioned in Roger Hill's letter com- 
mitted. It is remarkable that the memory of so important an occur- 
rence should not have been preserved by the descendants of the 
sufferers, either through written description or tradition. 

Hertel, on his return, early in May, met a large body of French 
and Indians bound on an expedition for the destruction of Falmouth 
which he reinforced with a part of his own men. This expedition 
to Falmouth resulted in the destruction of that town. The cruelties 
perpetrated by the assailants upon the inhabitants were horrid 
beyond description. The shocking barbarities then and there com- 
mitted have few parallels in the history of the French and Indian 
wars. It was during this savage assault that the French commander, 
Castine, was guilty of his noted perfidy and perjury. 

The Larrabee Settleisient. 

17 13, March 26. The town granted to William Larrabee, Sen- 
ior, one hundred acres of upland on the northeast side of Mousam 

exists in the town descriptive of or alluding to it. Tlie autlior states that many 
letters, addressed to Captain Hill, at Fort Mary, "were found fifty years ago, in 
the attic of a house in South Berwick, in an old chest that had not been opened 
for seventy years. These papers established many historical facts," etc.] In 1794 
Captain Hill married Mary, daughter of Maj. Charles Frost, whose garrison was 
at Kittery. Major Frost, in a letter to his son-in-law Hill, under date of Wells, 
August 13, 1696, vividly portrays the distressing situation of the early settlers at 
that time. He writes: "I am now at Wells, with twenty horse, Intending to 
come over to you, but hearing of several guns about your parts, I have sent over 
three men to see how it is with you. I have an order .... to assist you in 
drawing otT and to draw off and bring away what can be transported by land, and 
to hide the rest in the ground with the guns; but our towns are so weak for the 
want of men that if the enemy be about you we fear we are too weak to bring you 
off." He adds a postscript: " 'Tis said six Indians have been here to-day." 

Oapt. John Hill was a son of Roger Hill, of Blddeford (who married Mary 
Cross, of Wells, in 1658), and was a brother to Joseph Hill, a prominent citizen of 
Wells, who died in 1743. He was one of the signers of an address to the Governor 
and Council of Massachusetts, dated Wells, July 21, 1691, asking that men be sent 
there, with provisions and ammunition, for the strengthening of the town, which 
was in a distressed condition. On the 28th of September following. Captain Hill 
and Oapt. John Littlefield, who are spoken of as "our loving friends," were 
selected to present the petition of several of the inhabitants of Wells to the Mass- 
achusetts authorities for immediate aid. At this time Captain Hill was stationed 
at Fort Mary, in Saco, with thirty-eight soldiers under his command, but these 
could not be safely removed from their quarters. It appears that he was fre- 
quently in Wells and was indefatigable in his efforts to provide men, arms and 
ammunition for the defense of the town. 



58 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

River, which was laid out on the twenty-seventh of the following 
October, " 80 rods in breadth by the river, the northwest side begins 
at the river, by a great gully running from the river northeast and 
so to run back from the river till the 100 acres are completed," and 
on the same day a grant of 100 acres was laid out to William Larra- 
bee. Junior, joining his father, William Larrabee, "80 poles in 
breadth by the river and running on a northeast point back from 
the river till the 100 acres be completed." 

We have, in the foregoing grants, the initiatory step in the for- 
mation of the "Larrabee Village," the first combination within our 
borders for mutual protection, the site of the first blockhouse, and the 
first approximation to a village. This was an important position, judi- 
ciously chosen and heroically maintained. The William Larrabee, 
Junior, to whom the second grant was made, is undoubtedly the 
William Larrabee of Bourne's History ; the senior Larrabee is not 
mentioned there, but it is stated that William Larrabee came to 
Wells in 1676, having been driven from North Yarmouth by the 
Indian troubles, and further, that he was married in 1706. If this 
is correct, he must have resided in Wells thirty years before he was 
married and thirty-eight years before he built his house near the 
Mousam River. This, doubtless, is an error. 

Chroniclers of the events of those far-off times inform us that 
"Lt. Larrabee with thirty praying Indians" was ordered by the 
Massachusetts authorities to scout about the Saco River, and farther 
east if it should be judged necessary. He succeeded in killing sev- 
eral Indians. It is to be regretted that our information respecting 
this expedition is so scant. Lt. Larrabee is undoubtedly the senior 
William ^ of our history, and when invested with the command of 
these Indians was an inhabitant of Wells. He was residing in Cape 
Porpoise in 1703. We make this statement on the authority of 
Bradbury, who says that Larrabee was there in 1703, when the town 
was depopulated by Indian murders and desertions. After their 
attack on Harding's, "the Indians crossed the river and killed the 
wife and three of the children of William Larrabee, who lived in 
the field near Butler's rocks, so-called. Larrabee himself was at 
work on the marsh near where the ropewalk now is, and, on perceiv- 

' The senior Larrabee, according to Bradbury, married the widow of John 
Look, — he sliould have added senior. Elizabeth Lools, the widow of the elder 
John, and tlie mother of the John of our history, married William Larrabee about 
1681. Elizabeth obtained a grant of land, lying in the vicinity of Ogunquit River, 
from the town of Wells, in KiTS". It is supposed William, junior, was married In 
1706 or 17(17. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 59 

ing two Indians running toward him, concealed himself in the bushes. 
After they had given up the search he crept toward his house and 
saw the Indians regaling themselves on the provisions they had taken 
therefrom, the dead bodies of his wife and two children lying near 
them." A third child breathed its last while he was looking at 
it. It would have been madness to attack them, and his only course 
was to seek Storer's garrison, which he reached in safety. He con- 
tinued to reside in Wells thereafter until his death. It is said that 
he was the son of Stephen Larrabee, of what place is not stated 
(probably North Yarmouth), and that he was one of the petitioners 
to Charles II, in i6So, praying to be relieved from the heavy taxes 
imposed by the "Bostoners." The name on the petition is spelled 
Leatherbee. 

Both William and his son must have resided west of Little River 
many years before obtaining the grants above named. William, Jr., 
erected his house in 17 14, but there is no evidence that his father 
built a house on his grant or was a resident thereon. He must 
have been well advanced in years in 17 14, and doubtless too infirm 
to engage in active service against the enemy. Edward Evans was 
in possession of the grant at one time; we think he did not build a 
house there, but took up his abode on the west side of the river.^ 
The grant came into possession of Samuel Emmons, who built a 
dwelling-house thereon and resided there several years. He married 
Abigail Fletcher in 1737. Several sons and daughters were born to 
them, all of whom were married and became residents of different 
towns in the county, and, as a whole, were worthy men and women. 
The senior Emmons removed to Lyman ; we think he is the ancestor 
of all of that name in York and Cumberland Counties. Emmons, 
we are told, was a rough but kind-hearted man and a good citizen,'^ 

^After the war (July, 1715,-October, 17-19,) Evans moved across the river and 
lived near its western bank, back of the house formerly occupied by Enoch Brag- 
don, on land known as George W. Wallingford's pasture. He had three sons, 
Abner, William and John. 

^A good story is told respecting Emmons: One fine summer morning he pro 
posed to go fishing; his boat was old and leaky and his wife remonstrated against 
the movement, but he persisted. The day proved pleasant throughout and he 
caught a large quantity of lish. On his return he reached the vicinity of his liome 
when it was high water; the boat, which during the sail up river had shown signs 
of weakness, began to fill and was gradually sinking. Emmons could not swim. 
His wife, who was on the lookout, discovered his danger and rushing to the water's 
edge cried out, with uplifted arms, " O Lord, save him," " Kind God, do save him," 
"God of mercy, save him." P^mmons, who was standing in the lx)at, shouted to 
his wife, "Stop calling on the Lord, good woman, and halloo for Wormwood." 
Wormwood, who lived just below, on the west side of the river, had seen the peri- 
lous condition of Emnnons when he passed by a few moments before and was 



60 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

William Larrabee, Junior, was a hardy, courageous man and 
became the intrepid defender of the little hamlet that graduallj- grew 
up around him as well as of those, both townsmen and strangers, who 
fled to his domicile for safety. He was truly "the man for the 
hour," and it may well be questioned whether, without him, the set- 
tlement could have sustained itself against the savage foe through 
the three years' war, known as Lovewell's (June, 1722-December, 
1725). He died in 1727. A copy of his will is given in the 
annexed note.^ The date of the death of his father is not known. 

Stephen Larrabee was the son of William, Jr., and is known in 
legend and in history as "Sergeant Larrabee." He inherited his 
father's qualities of strength and intrepidity, was distinguished for 
wise forethought and was in every way qualified for a cautious 
and successful leader; he planned deliberately and executed with 
undaunted firmness, and almost invariably with a prosperous issue. - 

watching his progress. Hearing the outcry, he was soon in his wherry and along- 
side the sinking craft, which he succeeded in towing to the shore. We are told 
that at breakfast the next morning Emmons said to his wife: ""Well, old lady, 
you was pretty well frightened last evening; you see it was better to rely on 
Wormwood than to stand there calling on the Lord." "But, Sam," was the re- 
sponse, "if I had not called on the Lord. Wormwood would not have been on the 
lookout and would not have saved you." Slowly and musingly, Emmons replied: 
"Well, well, good woman, perhaps you are right; I don't know; yes, yes, perhaps 
you are right." 

I This the last will and testament of William Larraby: 

First I corait my spirit to God that gave it and my body to the Earth to be 
decently buryed. First, I Give my wellbeloved Son Stephen Larraby my dwell- 
ing and land which Contains one hundred Acres with all my marsh or meadow, 
my aforesaid son to pay all my Lawful Debts. I Give to my wife Kathrine Lar- 
raby the third part of my Estate. I give to my Eldest Daughter Eethiah Look 
Six pounds I Give to my Daughter Sarah Larraby one Cow and Oalfe & Six pounds 
in money I Give to my Daughter Easter I^arraby a heifer Two years old and Six 
pounds in money I give to my aforesd Wife Twenty in money I give to my aforesd 
Son all my right and Interest in North [Yarmouth] Also I Give to my Said Son 
the remainder of my Estate that is not Disposed of already. I do also appoint 
Said Son to l)e my Execute also I do Will that my Son pay the Legacys with [in] 
three years after Date hereof the money to be paid in Currant or Mowing land 
where I have Set to my hand and Seale this Twenty fifth^day of Aprill one Thou- 
sand Seven hundred and Twenty & Seven 1727 William X Larraby L S 

nmrk 

Signed Sealed & Delivered 

In psence of I also give to my daughter Sarah Larraby 

Ebenezer Emons forty acres of Land. I Give to my Laugh- 

Thomas X Wormwood ter Easter Larraby forty acres of Land 

Ed"vard X Evans This was Interlined before Sin'd. 

Probated?" Aug. Irli. Inventory returned 8 Aug. 1727, at £;;02:5:0, by Ebenezer 
Emons, Thomas Wormwood and Edward Evans, appraisers. 

^ " He planned a grand fort at his house on the Mousam River," which, when 
completed, covered " an acre of ground. The walls were of large, square timber, 
about fourteen feet high." It was built in the form of a parallelogram, pointing 
southeast or down the river. Within the walls were five houses. That of Sergeant 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 61 

He had been inured to hardship, well understood the Indian char- 
acter, knew when and how to watch his movements, and could readily 
d>;termine the best course by which to counteract his stratagems and 
treachery. About eighteen years of age at the close of Lovewell's 
war, he was fully prepared, twenty years later — at the commence- 
ment of the five years' or Spanish war — when in the full vigor of 
manhood, to act the heroic and noble part which he bore through 
that contest, earning for himself the unquestioned title of the pre- 
server of the settlers between the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers. 
He died previous to 1780, when about seventy years of age. 

John Look obtained a town grant, March iS, 1714, of one hun- 
dred acres of upland and ten of marsh, forty rods in breadth by the 
Mousam River, joining the land of William Larrabee, Junior, leaving 
four rods next to said land for a highway. 

Grant of one hundred acres (but when laid out only "60 acres 
cou!d be found in that place"), March, 1716, to Thomas Worm- 
wood, adjoining Look's land, forty rods in breadth, etc. ("allowing 
four rods for a highway"), also three acres of marsh, on the south- 
west side of the river, "between the marsh of Nath'l Clark and 
Joseph Taylor." 

1 7 17, July 5. Laid out, under town grant, for Capt. John Gil- 
man, of Exeter, N. H., and Samuel Littlefield, of Wells, two hundred 
acres upland and fifty acres salt marsh. The foot line begins at a 
place called Clay Hill and so runs northeasterly, on both sides of 
said upland, one hundred and eighty rods to Thomas Wormwood's 
land, and all the salt marsh from Clay Hill, between the upland and 
Mousam River, to the upper side of the place called "Roundabout," 
forty rods above William Larrabee's dwelling-house. The upper half 
of land and marsh was to be Liltlefield's and the lower half Gilman's. 
The latter was probably forfeited, as it was laid out for Joseph Hill 
and John Storer, December 10, 1727, 

1 7 16, May 10. Laid out for David Littlefield, eleven acres salt 

Larrabee was very large and stood in the center of the fort. In the north corner 
was the house of Edward Evans: in the east corner that of Bbenezer Bayridge. 
The other two, one being at the western and the other at the southern end, were 
occupied by Nathan Morrison and the soldiers which were stationed there under 
his command; and also by such persons as found refuge here from the neighbor- 
hood "in time of danger. ... At the northeastern end of the garrison, just 
before the gate, was the house of Samuel and Anthony Littlefield," the same built 
by Larrabee in 1714. . . . "In this garrison, including the old Larrabee hou.'e 
outside, which was made an appendage and from which was direct access to the 
garrison, were frequently gathered all the inhabitants of Kennebunk, together 
with other persons (sometimes over two hundred) driven there by the exigencies 
of war, for the preservation of their lives."— iJowr/ie. 



62 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

marsh on the easterly side of Mousam River, "between the Great 
Hill and the Pine Point, near the wading place, with the island of 
thatch adjoining said marsh." 

On the western side of the Mousam River, March 14, 17 15. 
Grant to Rachel Taylor, fifty acres of upland, being a neck of land 
joining a parcel of marsh she is now in possession of (grant, 1699, 
to her husband, Joseph Taylor, deceased), abutting on the river 
"and bounded upon a brook upon the northerly side and so running 
betwixt the said two brooks, the breadth of the neck, about north- 
west, till the said fifty be completed, being on a line extending from 
brook to brook at the head of the said tract." 

March 18, 17 14. Grant to Joseph Storer, one hundred acres, 
near the old wading place. (This is believed to have been at " Emer- 
son's Falls"; when Sayward's mills were built, necessity existed 
for a new wading place, which is supposed to have commenced just 
above the lower dam, and to have extended down river fifty or sixty 
rods ; it is somewhat remarkable that no positive evidence on this 
point, documentary or traditional, can now be obtained.) This lot 
was forty rods in breadth by the river on the western side, running 
back until the grant was completed. 

Same date, one hundred acres to Moses Littlefield, forty rods in 
breadth by the river on the westerly side, near the old wading place. 

Same date, six hundred acres upland and sixty of marsh on the 
eastern side of Mousam River, to Caleb Littlefield, John Moore, 
Elisha Billeton, Isaac Nash, Caleb Littlefield, Junior, and Nicholas 
Garland, to each and every one of them one hundred acres of upland 
and ten acres of fresh meadow, where it can be found not previously 
granted, above Cousens' (Rankin's) creek, each lot forty rods in 
breadth bv the river. 



CHAPTER VII. 

I706-1750 WADLEIGH's INDIAN DEED GREAT FALLS AND VIL- 
LAGE GRANTS AND MILLS MAJOR PHILLIPS' GRANT KENNE- 

BUNK MILLS THE KIMBALL FAMILY PEABODY FAMILY. 

As Stated on a preceding page, John Wadleigh, then a resident 
in Wells, purchased of Sagamore Thomas Chabinocke, of Nampscos- 
coke, which, be its meaning what it may, appears to have been the 
Indian name of the territory embraced in his deed or conveyance, 
"bounded between Nogimcoth [Negunquit] and Kennebunk, and 
up as high as Capeporpus falls" [Mousam Great Falls]. This pur- 
chase was made October 18, 1649, ^"<^ O'"* the last day of the follow- 
ing March, Wadleigh, according to the record, took "quiet and 
peaceable possession of the premises." We have no further partic- 
ulars. Unless it was understood by the people of Wells that Wad- 
leigh was acting as their agent, and that this transference was in 
their behalf and for their benefit, for the purpose of extinguishing 
the Indian title to their plantation, it is difficult to imagine it possi- 
ble that they would have tamely witnessed these proceedings without 
protest or any other movement opposed to the action. It might not 
have been an open transaction. There is certainly something about 
the affair that, at this day, is quite incomprehensible. Wadleigh, 
probably, disposed of one-half of his interest, under the Indian 
deed, to his son Robert, inasmuch as John and Robert, in 1659, sold 
to Daniel Epps, of Salem, and Simon Epps, of Ipswich, the tract of 
land lying between the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers, from the 
sea wall to Coxhall line. Fifty-six years after the date of their deed 
the grantees claimed possession of the land therein described. As 
it may well be supposed, this demand occasioned no little excitement 
on the part of the inhabitants of Wells, by whom it was indignantly 
rejected. The Eppses threatened prosecution; a town meeting was 
held, at which it was voted to resist the claim, and a committee was 
appointed to carry this vote into effect. Capt. John Wadleigh, the 
son of Robert and the grandson of the John who obtained the deed 

63 



64 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

from the Indians, supported the pretensions of the Eppses, and pre- 
sented a further claim — founded on a deed of gift by his father to 
him — to certain lots of land in the town, lying west of Little River. 
After the amount of bluster usually employed by the contestants in 
such cases (especially where each party regards its own position of 
doubtful tenability) had been expended, a compromise was effected, 
by which it was agreed that the town of Wells should give to the 
Eppses one mile square of land in consideration of a quitclaim of 
all their right, title and interest in and to the territory in contro- 
versy, and to Capt. John Wadleigh two hundred acres for a similar 
quitclaim to all lots or parcels of land described in the deed to him 
from his father. 

In reviewing this transaction one can hardly resist the conclu- 
sion that it was not strictly in accordance with fair dealing, that 
Wadleigh had acted as agent for the plantation in the purchase from 
the Indian sagamore, that the authorities of the plantation had neg- 
lected to obtain and record the necessary evidence of this fact, that 
Wadleigh had sufficient shrewdness to see that this omission might, 
if he was so disposed, be made pecuniarily advantageous to him at 
a future day, when testimony in proof of the facts in the case would 
not be attainable by the town, and that the Eppses understood the 
precise condition of things when they took their deed (else why the 
delay in making known and urging their claim). Appearances cer- 
tainly indicate a pronounced case of "sharp practice " on the one 
part, and of necessity for yielding, chargeable to the carelessness or 
ignorance of their predecessors, on the part of the town authorities. 
At this late day, and destitute of positive evidence bearing on the 
case, it is impossible to do more than state the facts as they appear 
on the record and leave it to each reader to judge for himself. 

vOur coveted strip of territory was now free from all outside 
incunibrances. Cleaves had failed in his attempt to grasp it; Cape- 
porpus had seen its pretensions set aside as unworthy consideration, 
and the Eppses and Wadleigh had been "bought off" at a low rate, 
estimating the lands granted at the then prevailing prices. Resi- 
dents could look upon their acres or carry on their business enter- 
prises with a feeling of security unknown to them at any previous 
period, and persons seeking eligible situations as farmers, mill-men 
or for employments peculiarly adapted to the seashore could plant 
themselves here without fear of molestation, except from the com- 
mon foe. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 65 

In accordance with the arrangement between the town and the 
claimants under the Indian deed, the town, on the third day of 
October, 1720, granted to the Eppses "a certain tract of land con- 
taining one mile square, or the quantity of a mile square, between 
the rivers of Mousam and Kennebunk," etc., and to Capt. John 
Wadleigh, of Salisbury, two hundred acres of land adjoining that 
granted to the Eppses. The first-named grant was laid out to Capt, 
John Storer, on the eighteenth of June, 1731, viz., a tract beginning 
at the mile spring, so-called, thence northwest up the Mousam River 
three hundred and twenty rods, thence northeast from said river two 
hundred and eighty rods, thence southeast three hundred and twenty 
rods, thence southwest two hundred and eighty rods to said mile 
spring; also laid out eighty acres, bounded southwesterly by Mousam 
River, northwesterly by land of Joseph Hill and John Storer, south- 
easterly by land laid out to John Low, and then running back from 
the river till it meets the Kennebunk lots, which two lots make a 
mile square. The Wadleigh grant was laid out the same day as the 
foregoing, beginning at the northeast side of Mousam River and 
adjoining the Eppses' grant, running northwest up the river one 
hundred and twenty rods, etc. 

1720, May 10. Proprietors grant to John Wheelwright, Samuel 
Wheelwright and the heirs of Joseph Taylor two hundred acres 
adjoining Mousam Great Falls, beginning at Coxhall line and run- 
ning down the river one hundred and sixty rods (four acres of 
which to be on the southwestern side of the river), — one hundred 
acres to John Wheelwright, fifty acres to Samuel Wheelwright and 
fifty to Joseph Taylor's heirs. This lot "was set off and divided," 
at the request of the Wheelwrights and Ichabod Cousens (who had 
probably purchased the interest of Taylor's heirs), in April, 1735, 
"To each man and person aforesaid," as follows: "The land 
below the mill and the hill on the southeast side to be for John 
Wheelwright, and all the land adjoining as not laid out to be in 
common for the use of the mill for logs and boards and not for any 
man to hinder or encumber the way or roads as agreed. John 
Wheelwright's side of the mill to lay their boards on the southea.st 
side of the road," and the other persons named "to lay their boards 
on the northwest side of the road." Reference is several times 
made in this instrument to the " mill pond." This document affords 
conclusive evidence that there was a double saw-mill in operation at 
the Great Falls in 1735, ^"d it is fair to suppose that there were at 



66 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

least one dwelling-house and a barn for the accommodation of 
employees and cattle. The privilege was unimproved in 1750, and 
there is no evidence that ruins of either mill or other buildings were 
visible. Whether dam and mill had been swept away by a freshet, 
or mill and other buildings had been destroyed by an accidental fire 
or the Indian's torch is, and doubtless must ever remain, unknown. 
We learn from Bourne's history that a saw-mill was built on these 
falls in 1754 ^y Thomas and James Cousens. We have not been 
able to obtain any further information respecting it. It could not 
have been operated much longer than a twelvemonth, inasmuch as a 
great freshet in October, 1755, swept away every mill then standing 
on the river. No mill has since been erected on this site. 

The selectmen of Wells and a committee appointed by the pro- 
prietors of eight miles square of land, Major Phillips's, so-called, met 
May 29, 1730, and settled the line between this tract and the said 
town : "beginning at Wells line, formerly settled by Captain Preble, 
at a marked tree on the west side of Mousam River, which stands 
directly in the southwest line from a certain marked tree in the 
bounds as settled between Wells and Coxhall ; thence near south- 
west by Wells's head bounds to a certain marked tree standing on 
the southwest side of a fresh meadow, commonly called Meriland 
Meadow." This tract of land was purchased by Major William 
Phillips, of Saco, from the Sagamore Fluellen, in 166 1. It was not 
carefully surveyed until 1735, and the first settler thereon, so says 
tradition, took up his abode on Lyon Hill about 1740.^ Population 
increased on that portion of it which now forms the town of Sanford, 
so that an act of incorporation was obtained in 1768, the jurisdic- 
tion of the town extending over the entire "square" for several 
years. In 1784 the portion of the square known in its early settle- 
ment as Massabesic was incorporated with the name of Waterbor- 
ough. In 1794 the territory now known as Alfred was set off as a 
district or parish, but was not separated from Sanford and incor- 
porated as a town until 1808. 

That Littlefield's saw-mill, on Kennebunk River, was rebuilt 
during the first quarter of the seventeenth century is evident, but in 

* " The first settlers of Sanford were extremely poor." Their cabins were 
rudely constructed and scantily furnished. " Here they lived and when needy 
made a few bunches of shingles, which were hauled to Kennebunk Landing, or 
sold and a team from there sent after them, for they had no teams."— jETis^orj/ of 
York County. 

"A tax of 3210 pounds of beef was assessed upon the town " in 1780, during our 
Revolutionary struggle. " This beef was delivered to the county agent at Kenne- 
bunk Landing."—/?). [Waldo Emerson was collector of the excise revenue.] 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 67 

what year cannot be ascertained, nor, indeed, is it known whether 
there was any change in the proprietorship. It is probable, how- 
ever, that there was no change. The first mill was destroyed by the 
Indians in 1688 or 1689. Storer's mill, below, was erected about 
1700, and it is reasonable to suppose that the Littlefields rebuilt 
about the same time, but no documents exist which will enable us to 
determine this question, — perhaps it was not rebuilt until the close 
of Queen Anne's war (1713), or Lovewell's (1725), but there is no 
satisfactory evidence to sustain either supposition. We infer that 
the mill was standing, but not in operation, in 1736. The original 
owners had passed away and their heirs were not disposed to, or for 
some reason could not, continue the business and hold, undivided, 
the land adjoining the Great Falls. In 1730 Edmund Littlefield's 
grant of one hundred acres (1680) was laid out for Samuel Little- 
field, Joseph Sayer and Nathaniel Kimball. It does not appear that 
the mill and dam were included in this survey ; in his description of 
the bounds, the surveyor says : " beginning fourscore rods above the 
saw-mill noiv standing on Kennebunk River and rumiing to the mill and 
from thence,'' etc. ; in 1733 Hill and Fairfield laid out, under an old 
grant, ten acres of meadow, " beginning at the old mill-stage and 
running up river eighty rods to Edmund Littlefield's upper bounds." 
We infer from these documents that perfect harmony did not prevail 
among the heirs of the original mill owners, and also that Storer's 
mill was not standing in 1730,^ and that no saw-mill was then in 
operation on the river. 

On the twenty-second of March, 1736, there was surveyed for 
Nathaniel and Richard Kimball one hundred acres of land, in two 
contiguous lots, each containing fifty acres,- — one of the lots under 
grant to Jonathan Hammond (1666) and the other under grant to 
William Harmon (1720), "beginning at the southeasterly corner of 
Edmund Littlefield's odd lot at Kennebunk, a little below the upper 
landing-place by the side of a gutter that leads into the river, where 
it is usual to raft logs, thence southwest eighty rods, thence northwest 
two hundred rods," etc. This survey inaugurated the permanent 
settlement of the village district. To this time no dwelling-house 
had been erected within its limits, if we except the temporary struc- 
tures that had been put up in the vicinity of the mills on the Mousam 
and Kennebunk, which at this date had either entirely disappeared 
or were so dilapidated as to be untenantable. The Kimballs were 
natives of Scotland and emigrated to this country as early as 1720. 

^ Storer's mill was probably burned by the Indians in 1723. 



68 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Nathaniel had become a resident of the western part of Wells in that 
year, Richard did not become a citizen of the town until sometime 
between 1726 and 1730.^ Nathaniel married Abigail Cousens in 
1726, and Richard married Catherine Cousens in 1733. Nathaniel 
was the most energetic of the brothers. He was known in after 
years as Captain, while Richard attained the position and title of 
Deacon. Nathaniel's name first appears on the records as a land- 
owner in 1728, when a lot of marsh was laid out for him, beginning 
at Clay Hill and running down the Mousam to the first great creek ; 
in 1729 he obtained a grant of fifty acres of upland on Alewive 
Brook; in 1730 he became the owner of one-third part of Edmund 
Littlefield's first grant of one hundred acres at Kennebunk Great 
Falls; in 1736, in connection with his brother, he came into posses- 
sion of his homestead lot; in 1767 the brothers purchased six hun- 
dred and thirty acres of land in Coxhall ; in 1753 Nathaniel purchased 
of Samuel Wheelwright, under Paty's grant (1669), ninety-three acres 
in two lots, bounded by Stephen Larrabee's land, Kennebunk River, 
and Samuel Shackley's easterly corner bounds. Nathaniel was sec- 
ond lieutenant of Colonel Storer's company of volunteers (1744-45, 
composed chiefly of citizens of Wells), which joined the expedition 
for the capture of Louisburg, Cape Breton. In this company were 
Ichabod Cousens and John Look, sergeants, and Caleb Kimball, 
Edward Evans, Joseph Taylor, James Gillpatrick and Peter Rich, 
privates, all of whom resided east of Little River. Nathaniel was 
the first innholder in what is now the village district, and also the 
first postmaster in the town (1775). He was one of the selectmen 
of Wells in 1746 and from 1748 to 1753, inclusive. He was also 
frequently appointed on important committees by the town and by 
the Second Parish. Richard kept groceries for sale in his house and 

'The descendants of Nathaniel and Richard have a family tradition that the 
two brothers came to Wells together, and that another brother, who came over 
with them, settled in Haverhill, Mass. This, we think, is not entirely correct. It 
is more probable that only two brothers came over, but immediately after land- 
ing on our shores Nathaniel proceeded to Wells, where his uncle Caleb resided, 
and there found employment as a mill-man and farmer ; and that Richard stopped 
at Haverhill, where he had relatives, for a few years and then took up his abode 
in Wells. The striking similarity in the Christian names common in the Kimball 
families in Haverhill and Bradford, Mass., at the time under consideration, and 
those equally common among the early settlers with this surname in Wells, may 
be cited as evidence of consanguinity. May 3, 1676, Thomas Kimball, of Bradford- 
was killed by three " converted Indians," named " Symon, Andrew and Peter." 
Kimball's wife and five children were made captives, but were afterward released 
through the Influence of the chief of the Penacooks. These " converted Indians " 
were vile miscreants. Symon was with the noted Mogg in his assault upon Scar- 
borough, October 12, 1676, and was the leader of the party which took several pris- 
oners at Back Oove, near Portland, in August of the same year. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 69 

was the first storekeeper in this part of the town. Stephen Harding 
kept a small stock of groceries for sale in his blacksmith's shop, sev- 
eral years previously, and Moses Stevens, at Cat Mousam, is styled 
"a trader" in a bill of sale to him, early in the seventeenth century. 
Kimball's house, which was a large, square, two-story building, was 
located very near the pleasant site where now stands the brick 
dwelling-house on what is known as the " Hedge Farm," owned by 
Aaron Ricker. He was an excellent farmer and gave special atten- 
tion to the clearing of his land, the cultivation of various crops and 
the raising of cattle. He was also a very active and much respected 
member of the Second Parish. 

Nathaniel and Richard, in company with John Mitchell and a 
gentleman belonging in Salem, Mass., were owners of the first vessel 
built on the Kennebunk River ; the shipyard was on the west side 
of the river on what was called Mitchell's Wharf and was near 
his dwelling-house. John Bourn was master workman. This was 
in 1755. The vessel was about eighty tons burthen. Richard sub- 
sequently built a sloop at Kennebunk Landing. The Kimball 
brothers were the highest taxpayers, at this time, in the Second 
Parish, Richard being assessed a little more than Nathaniel. 

The descendants of Nathaniel and Richard are numerous. A 
few reside in the vicinity of the homes of their ancestors, many in 
Alewive and its vicinity, and very many are residents in different 
parts of this State and of other States. A full and correct genea- 
logical record of this family would require a great amount of time 
and labor for its preparation, — in fact, we doubt if records exist 
that would render it possible to prepare a full and correct table.^ 

It may be well here to correct an erroneous impression which 
prevails respecting the Nathaniel Kimball house. It is generally 
supposed that the dwelling recently occupied by Rev. Frederick 
Pember was erected by Kimball about 1726. This is an error. 
The original Kimball house, which was a large, square, two-story 
building and a blockhouse, was torn down about ninety years ago 
by his grandson Nathaniel, who constructed the new building chiefly 
of the materials of the old mansion; nor does it occupy precisely 
the same site of the above-named ; its eastern end abuts on the 
western end of the site of the old. The one-story dwelling east of 

' Richard Kimball, who came to this country in 1734, from Ipswich in England, 
and settled In Ipswich, Mass., in 1737, was of English descent. His descendants 
are numerous, but much less so, we apprehend, than are those from the first 
Scotch immigrant to our shores by the name of Kimball. Kimballs (Scotch) were 
In Haverhill and Bradford as early as 1650. 



70 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the Pember house, occupied by Miss Esther Ross, was also built 
largely of lumber taken from the old Nathaniel Kimball house. 
The original cellar occupied ground covered by the eastern end of 
the Pember house and the western end of Miss Ross's house, as 
well as the vacant land between them. 

Caleb Kimball became a resident of Wells certainly as early as 
the commencement of the seventeenth century, preceding Nathaniel 
and Richard by some twenty or thirty years. It is believed that he 
was an uncle to Nathaniel and Richard, and it was undoubtedly 
through his influence that his nephews came to this country and 
settled in Wells. He was married to Susanna Cloyes June 15, 1704. 
We think he lived on or near the main road leading from Wells 
Corner to Ogunquit.^ He had two sons : Caleb, who resided awhile 
near Kennebunk River, and who was married to Beriah Welsh in 
October, 1738, and about the same time removed to the western part 
of the town, where he resided the remainder of his lifetime, and 
Thomas. Whether Caleb, Senior, had other children than the two 
sons above named is not known.^ He was an active and much re- 
spected man, was one of the selectmen in 1737, and held a number of 
minor offices in the town during his lifetime; he was also active and 
prominent in the affairs of the parish. He died, it is supposed, in 
1738 or 1739, and thereafter Caleb, Junior, is the Caleb of the rec- 
ords. The latter was one of the selectmen from 1740 to 1742, inclu- 
sive, was frequently chosen to fill less important town offices and was 
often appointed on important committees in town and parish. He 
had several children : Barack, Heber, Caleb, Hasadiah and perhaps 
others. Caleb, Senior, we think, was the ancestor of all or nearly 
all the Kimball families in Wells west of Little River. 

Seth Peabody, born in 1740, came from Topsfield, Mass.; he 
was a temporary resident of this town between the years 1760 and 
1770, during which period he married Abigail Kimball. He removed 
to Alfred about 1770, and was one of the builders of Conant's mill 
and of Mr. Conant's two-story dwelling-house. He built a house 

' Caleb Kimball had laid out for him, under grant to Samuel Littlefleld, lOSO, 
ten acres of meadow near Alewive Brook in July, 1729, and in July, 1735, had a 
grant of one hundred acres near Kennebunk River. — "in lieu of a former grant 
which is represented to be lost,"— which was laid out in March, 178(5, "beginning 
at the northerly corner of the upper lot of Samuel Littlefleld, now in possession 
of Caleb Kimball, junior, . . . leavingahighway of four rods " (the road beginning 
at the Pember house, leading by Mrs. James Ross's to the old Shackley place). 

* He probably had other children. Joshua, who died at Cape Breton, 1745, it Is 
thought was Caleb's son. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 71 

"thirty rods west of his brother-in-law," Thomas Kimball/ who 
lived a quarter of a mile north of the mill, and there resided until 
the commencement of the Revolutionary War, when he removed his 
family to Kennebunk, having sold his Alfred house to "William 
Parsons, who, after residing in it seven years, moved it a quarter of 
a mile north and used it for a potash factory and erected a two-story 
dwelling near this factory." He served as a soldier through the 
whole term of the Revolutionary War. After his return he bought 
two-thirds of the Thomas Kimball estate of Theodore Lyman, pur- 
chased by him of James Kimball, and the remaining third of the 
widow. He tore down the blockhouse and built a one-story dwell- 
ing in the field not many rods distant from the site of the old. 
A few years later this was removed and another erected in its 
immediate vicinity; Isaac, son of Seth, subsequently demolished 
the last-named and built another on the pleasant knoll in the field, 
where he spent the larger part of his life and where he died. He 
had several sons and daughters. John A. Peabody (of Boston, 
Mass.), son of Isaac, came into possession of the old homestead, and 
put up, very near the site of the old blockhouse, a handsome dwell- 
ing-house, barn, etc., intended for a summer residence. 

Thomas Kimball, the second son of Caleb, by gift or otherwise, 
came into possession of one-half of the grant of one hundred acres 
which was laid out for his father in 1736, and also of a ten-acre lot 
of meadow near Alewive Brook, which was laid out for his father in 
1729, and a grant to Samuel Littlefield (1680). He built a block- 
house, certainly as early as 1740, very near the site of the summer 
residence of Mr. John A. Peabody, who owns the whole of the origi- 
nal Thomas Kimball farm. He married Mary Goodwin, of Berwick, 
in 1737. He had seven sons, viz., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Thomas, 
James, Daniel and Nathaniel, and tv/o daughters, viz., Abigail, who 

married Seth Peabody, and Mary, who married Spencer ; of 

these nine children only James and Abigail remained in town. 

John A. Peabody is a descendant of the fifth generation from 
Francis Peabody, who emigrated from England to Salem, Mass., in 
1635, and was the ancestor of the millionaire and philanthropist, 
George I^eabody, and of Andrew P. Peabody, D. D., LL. D., and of 
many other eminent men. It is believed that all the Peabody fami- 
lies in Kennebunk and its vicinity are descendants of the above- 
named Seth and Abigail. 

'Thomas Kimball was the son of Thomas, Senior, and the grandson of Caleb. 
He also " was one of the builders of Oonant's mill and dwelt a quarter of a mile 
therefrom. He sold to Amos Grandy, a seafaring man from Guernsey, and moved 
a quarter of a mile west of the brick schoolhouse." He afterward moved to the 
eastward. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PROPRIETARY DIVISION OF THE "COMMON AND UNDIVIDED 

lands" GRANTS ON AND NEAR KENNEBUNK RIVER; ON AND 

NEAR LITTLE RIVER ; ON AND NEAR RANKIN's AND ALEVi^IVE 
BROOKS. 1719-1750. 

As early as 17 16 the legal voters in Wells determined that the 
"common and undivided lands in Wells doth belong to and here- 
after shall remain unto " the persons " hereinafter named and their 
heirs, in proportion according to their interest in the town, to be 
disposed of and improved according to the provisions of the law." 
Then follow the names of thirty-five persons and estates. There 
was a law on the statute books of the Massachusetts Colony which 
authorized this measure, the intent of which was undoubtedly wise 
as well as just. Probably all the towns within the Commonwealth 
availed themselves of its provisions, although the claims and condi- 
tions insisted upon by the voters in the different towns were widely 
different. In many towns these undivided commons occasioned 
serious disputes among the residents. Our good forefathers, then 
in power, were not behind their contemporaries in the stringency of 
their claims, but we do not find any evidence that the non-proprie- 
tors, in view of the action of the before-named meeting, expressed 
any dissatisfaction on account of their exclusion; the action, how- 
ever, of those who assumed to be the proprietors was undeniably 
unjust. The names of several landholders of long standing, living 
east of the Mousam, as well as the heirs of several of the pioneers 
in other parts of the town, are not included in their list, — men and 
the heirs of men who well deserved the meed of praise, who were 
landowners, who had "subdued the wilderness" and struggled 
heroically with hardship and danger, and who were certainly as 
much entitled to a full share in any partition of the commons as any 
other persons in the town. It appears, however, that this excep- 
tionable action was subsequently rectified. 

In pursuance of the above-named vote (17 16), a Proprietary, 
72 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 73 

consisting of those who claimed the ownership of the common and 
undivided lands in town, was duly organized, and thenceforward the 
meetings of the town and those of the Proprietary were held sepa- 
rately, and the records of each were kept in separate books. The 
proprietors' records commence in 1720, occupy two volumes and 
embrace the proceedings of the organization for a period of nearly 
one hundred years, the name of the proprietors' clerk appearing 
thereon for the last time, May 13, 1816. The affairs of the Propri- 
etary appear to have been carefully and intelligently managed 
throughout the many years of its existence. Its meetings were 
legally held, its officers were annually elected, persons entitled to 
the privilege were admitted as members, the common lands were 
sold, exchanged or given away at discretion, and all apparently in 
perfect harmony. From 1720 to 1772 seventy-three persons were 
admitted, embracing those who, at its commencement, had been 
disregarded, and the heirs of early settlers whose claims were indis- 
putable, so that at the last-named date the whole number of propri- 
etors was one hundred and eight. 

The subject of the division of the commons was frequently dis- 
cussed at the meetings of the proprietors, various propositions were 
made in regard to the quantity that should be so divided, and several 
committees were appointed at different times to examine these lands, 
and report to subsequent meetings their views as to the best means 
that could be adopted for their disposal. In 1761, about forty years 
after the formation of the Proprietary, it was decided to divide twelve 
thousand acres of the commons among the proprietors, — the lands 
designated for this purpose lying between Kennebunk and Mousam 
Rivers to be called the Northern Division, those lying between the 
Mousam and the highway leading to Sanford to be called the Center 
Division, and those lying in the western part of the town to be called 
the Western Division. Four years later it was voted that these lands 
be laid out into lots containing about one hundred and twelve acres 
each, "each lot containing three rights, . . . making a proper allow- 
ance for the quality of the land, so as to make each lot nearly of a 
goodness, and the rest to be laid out into such lots as the land will 
allow of and will best suit the proprietors." A committee appointed 
" to settle the common rights " reported : " We think each person or 
right to have as foUoweth " ; then follow the names of the one hun- 
dred and eight proprietors, who together owned three hundred and 
sixty-nine rights: — to John Storer was assigned sixteen rights, to 



74 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Joseph Hill, Francis Sayer and Francis Littlefield fourteen rights 
each, to Thomas Wells and Joseph Littlefield ten rights each, and to 
the other proprietors were assigned from one-third of a right to eight 
rights each, " in proportion according to their interest in the town." 
It was then voted " that the method of determining to whom each 
lot shall be assigned shall be by a lottery," and a committee was 
appointed " to prepare said lottery." On the eighteenth day of May, 
1772, the drawing took place. It was probably a gala day in the 
town. It is not to be supposed that there were not among the crowd 
those who had hoped for a different result, so far as related to the 
location of their individual " rights," but there was no suspicion of 
unfairness, and inasmuch as all obtained gifts of actual value all 
were pleased. The pioneers in our settlement, who had succeeded 
in giving some shape and comeliness to their respective home- 
steads, who had in a manner prepared the way for later settlers, and 
who had endured all the hardships, privations and dangers incident 
to their undertakings, were justly entitled to this remuneration for 
their services and trials. The distribution was eminently beneficial 
to the holders of rights and contributed to the prosperity of the 
settlement; many persons were thereby enabled to make desirable 
additions to their homesteads or to furnish farms to their sons, and 
many, who for some cause did not wish to improve their rights, sold 
them to others who wished to become actual settlers. Nathaniel 
Cousens added to his farm land in its vicinity to which two rights 
entitled him ; Benjamin Stevens added to his farm adjacent land to 
which six and two-thirds rights entitled him ; Joseph Wormwood, 
Obediah Emmons, Lemuel Hatch, James Wakefield, Obediah Little- 
field, John Butland, Benjamin Day, Paul Shackford, Anthony Little- 
field, Elizabeth Gillpatrick, widow of John, Junior, John Wormwood, 
Junior, John Cousens, 3d, Samuel Cousens, Junior, Josiah Wakefield, 
Obediah Hatch, Daniel Hatch, Reuben Hatch, Eli Wormwood, each 
added to his or her farm, or home lot, land to which one right enti- 
tled him or her, several of these rights being obtained by purchase 
from the persons to whom they were originally assigned. James 
Kimball had one right on the north side of Branch River ; Daniel Lit- 
tle one right at Coxhall line; Jonathan Taylor two rights on Mousam 
River; Nathaniel and Richard Kimball three rights adjoining their 
lands, and several others had fractions of rights in different parts of 
the town, — Samuel Curtis, Joseph Hobbs, James Hubbard, Nathan- 
iel Wells, Junior, and Nicholas West, committee for laying out the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 75 

lots in the three divisions, each receiving fifty acres of commons for 
his services. 

Several hundred acres of commons remained undivided after 
these twelve thousand acres had been selected, surveyed and 
assigned, but the proprietors considered them of trifling value. 
Applicants for grants were seldom refused ; in many cases these 
grants were for no particularly defined lots, but might be laid out 
wherever lands could be found not clearly within any other person's 
rightful possession.^ '• Rights" were a marketable commodity for 
many years, and were purchased to be laid out on, or to "cover," 
strips of territory to which those in possession were unable to estab- 
lish perfectly clear titles, and thus render their titles beyond contro- 
versy. Rights were also purchased to be laid out over meadows 
and marshes, nooks or corners, that no one had considered it desir- 
able to possess, and concerning the ownership of which no one had 
inquired or cared, but which, late in the last and early in the present 
century, when the adjacent lots had considerably increased in value, 
owing to the larger population and prosperity of the settlement, were 
regarded by abutters and speculators as worth "looking up " and 
securing. 

Among the earliest grants made by this Proprietary — we think 
the first east of Little River — was that to Thomas Wormwood,^ May 

^The proprietors granted to Rev. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, in May, 1802, twenty- 
acres of land to be laid out upon any of the common and undivided lands in 
Wells. This grant was laid out on several lots which Mr. Fletcher had purchased 
of different persons, in order that, by thus "covering " them, his title might be 
made indisputable. Joseph Storer claimed a ptirt or the whole of a lot which Mr. 
Fletcher had purchased of Reuben Hatch, on the west side of the road, nearly 
opposite his home lot; four-fifths of this lot, at the date of the transfer, had been 
in Hatch's possession for twenty-eight years, and the remaining fifth, twenty- 
four years. Three acres on the west side of the road, opposite his homestead, Mr. 
Fletcher bought of Moses Littlefleld and the heirs of Samuel Stevens, Jr., who 
purchased it of Joel Larrabee, who derived his title from the heirs of Samuel 
Wheelwright. The lots covered by Mr. Fletcher's grant were confirmed to him 
by the proprietors in May, 1804. Mr. Fletcher's homestead (on the east side of 
the Alfred road) was then bounded on the north by land of Abraham Currier and 
on the northwest by land of James Ridgeway. 

-Thomas removed to Arundel from Kittery in 1719; he was the son of William 
Wormwood, who resided in Kittery as early as 1W7. Thomas obtained a grant of 
one hundred acres of upland and three acres of meadow from the proprietors of 
Wells in 1716; sixty acres of the upland were laid out on the east side of the river 
Un the Larrabee neighborhood), and in 1719 the remaining forty acres were laid 
out "adjoining his marsh on the southwest side of the river." Wormwood was 
In charge of Harding's garrison when his son William, who was assisting Captain 
Felt, was killed by the Indians in 1724. As peace with the natives was concluded 
In 1725, he probably moved to Kennebunkand put up a dwelling-house on his land 
on the east side of the river; he was a resident here in 172C. Before 1750 his son, 
Thomas Wormwood, Jr., Ijuilt and occupied a house on his grant of "sum quan- 
tity of land " (1719) on the west side of the river. 



76 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

12, 17 19, of "sum quanty of upland ajoying to his marsh on the 
southwest side of Mousam River and anuf to make up his home lot 
one hundred akers " ; this grant, as laid out, was bounded on the 
northwest by Joseph (Rachel) Taylor's marsh, by Nathaniel Clark's 
marsh on the southeast, and "so lies between the two creeks 80 
rods and so across the land from creek to creek." It also granted 
to John Look a quantity of land adjoining Rachel Taylor's land, on 
the southwest side of Mousam River, enough to make his home lot 
one hundred acres, tw^enty rods in breadth by the river. 

On and Near Kennebunk River. 

1720. Proprietors grant to Thomas Boothby fifty acres on, 
forty rods by the river, adjoining James Wakefield's land ; to David 
Lawson (also spelled on the records Losson and Lauson),^ fifty 
acres on southeast side of Boothby's lot, "reserving a road four rods 
wide between said Lawson's and Boothby's land"; to William Lar- 
rabee four acres on western side of, on a brook that runs through 
Stephen Harding's pond marsh, beginning at a beaver dam, etc. 

1728. Grant to Samuel Emery of one hundred acres at " Can- 
nebunk," description of bounds imperfect. 

1730. Lot of marsh to David Lawson, adjoining the river, 
under grant to Samuel Hill; the lot of one hundred acres granted 
to Joseph Storer in 1699 (Lower Falls mill lot) was laid out for 
John Storer; the lot of one hundred acres granted to Edmund Lit- 
tlefield in 1680 (on upper or Great Falls mill lot) was laid out for 
Samuel Littlefield, Joseph Sayer and Nathaniel Kimball on the sec- 
ond of July; fifty acres on, to David Lawson, formerly granted to 
Nicholas Cole, bounded on the southwest by meadow in possession 
of Richard Boothby ; to Stephen Larrabee eight acres of meadow on 
small brook running into, and two acres on Alewive Brook, under 
grant (1720) to Thomas Busby; laid out for Henry Maddox, under 
grant to S. Littlefield (1716), ninety-two acres, leaving four poles 

^Lawson or Lauson, David, was an inhabitant of Wells prior to 1720. He 
appears to have been an energetic man, a speculator — bujing and selling lots of 
land in various sections of the town and in Lyman— and we have reason to believe 
was a respectable citizen. His name frequently occurs on the records of Wells. 
He obtained several grants of land from the town, which, with lots purchased by 
him, he sold at different times to different individuals. He owned land in the 
vicinity of Little River, at Alewive, and near the ocean. Gooch's Greek was orig- 
inally known as Lawson's Creek. He probably purchased land in its vicinity 
after the saw-mill which was erected on the slight fall thereon had been proved 
a failure and abandoned. He married Penelope Sampson — daughter of James 
Sampson, who lived near Cole's Corner — May 19, 1787. A son, David, was born to 
them September 17. 1741 ; it is not known whether they had any other addition to 
their family. He probably lived in the old Sampson house. He left town with 
his family before 1750. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 77 

for a highway to meet Thomas Wormwood's land and from said way 
running southeast and northeast to, and eight acres on "town's 
commons," on northeast side of Pond Lake, running to David Law- 
son's line, etc. 

1733. Laid out for John Webber forty acres, under grant to 
Stephen Harding (17 13), the lake, so-called, on the northeast side 
and the commons on the southwest side; for James Ross, son of the 
late John Ross, under grant to William Standlee (1720), lot of meadow 
ground, beginning "at the mouth of a small brook which comes 
from the norward and parts in two brooks, all on both brooks"; 
for Joseph Hill, of Wells, and John Fairfield, of Arundel, ten acres 
of meadow on west side of, "beginning at the old mill stage, adjoin- 
ing the river, two rods in breadth, and running up eighty rods to 
Edmund Littlefield's upper bounds, under grant to Joseph Hill, 
17 14." (This appears to be an attempt to cover with an old town 
grant one-half of the four rods reserved by the town for a highway ; 
if so, a sharp but probably an invalid transaction.) 

1734. Grant to James Wakefield land on, adjoining William 
Taylor's land, running down the river one hundred and sixty rods and 
running back on a straight course one hundred rods; proprietors 
confirmed to John Butland three hundred acres of land adjoining 
Stephen Harding's line, "his home lot, with his brother George 
Butland, equal with him (i. e., six hundred acres in the whole), to 
the head of the lot, running two and a half miles, beginning at the 
Salt Marsh with the island commonly called Butland's Island." 

December, 1735. Laid out for John and George Butland part of 
the tract of six hundred acres held by them under grant by Edward 
Rushworth and Henry Boad to William Hammond and John Buss, 
July, 1649, adjoining Kennebunk River, "beginning at the mouth 
thereof and so running up said river to the first Salt Water Falls, 
the part of said tract now laid out, by said river, containing two 
hundred and ninety-six acres, beginning at Stephen Harding's upper 
corner bounds and running northeasterly to Capt. John Storer's land, 
and so along said land as far as it extends, and then west one mile, 
and thence southwesterly to said Harding's westerly corner bounds." 
The Butlands divided this lot between them at the middle point, 
John taking the northerly side or half part, and George the south- 
erly half part; the same year there was laid out for John Webber 
forty acres, under grant to S. Harding (17 13), the lake, so-called, on 
the northeast side of said land, and the commons on the southwest, 
near Wood Neck. 



78 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

1737, Laid out for Joseph Hill, under grant to him in 17 14, 
five acres of meadow on the southwest side of a small brook, "which 
brook is next above the meadow laid out to Stephen Larrabee, 
beginning at a certain Beaver dam across the meadow, against two 
high points of land on ejch side of the meadow," and two acres on 
same brook, "bounded by a Beaver dam and running in two brooks 
or drains the breadth of the meadow." 

1 741. Samuel Wheelwright conveys to Henry Maddox, under 
grant to Thomas Paty, 1669, which was confirmed to said Wheel- 
wright in 1735, a lot of land bounded by Ichabod Cousens's land, 
formerly Corwin's, by Nathaniel Kimball's southerly corner and Hill 
and Storer's easterly corner, and so up into the country by Kimball's 
line; also nine and one-half acres adjoining the above-named lot, 

1745. Laid out for James, John and Nathaniel Wakefield five 
acres of lowland "between Kennebunk River and the upland or 
homestead," in three pieces, being one-half of a grant of ten acres 
to their father, James Wakefield, in 1693. Renewed bounds of one 
hundred acres granted to Nicholas Cole, Senior, 1680, below and 
adjoining Edmund Littlefield's mill lot, running from a certain tree 
near the river south-southwest "along by the side of the hill," etc., 
for John Storer. 

1747. Renewed bounds of one hundred acres of land for Jesse 
Town, beginning at, running southwest by west one hundred rods, 
then northwest sixty rods to the creek called Falls Creek, then sixty 
rods on the river to Stephen Titcomb's land, then " S. W. by W. 
100 rods in the bounds between said Titcomb & Town," etc. 

1753. Nathan Littlefield sold one-half of his grant of July, 
1680, to Nathaniel Kimball, John Mitchell, Stephen Larrabee, and 
James, Nathaniel and John Wakefield. This was adjoining Kenne- 
bunk River. 

1759. Proprietors, by a committee, laid out for Richard Kim- 
ball one hundred and sixty-nine and one-half acres, "by virtue of 
deed to him from Benj. Curtis and Benj. Curtis, junior, beginning 
at James Lord's E. corner in Benj. Day's line, running to Kenne- 
bunk River," etc., and at same date sixty acres, by virtue of deed 
from same persons, for John Taylor, at the easterly corner of Deacon 
Larrabee's land. 

1772. Laid out for Daniel Little, under grant to Nathan Little- 
field, 1680, twenty acres, "beginning at Kennebunk River, at the 
mouth of a brook, being John Butland's corner bounds, then S. W. 
by Butland's line to the road," etc. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 79 

1773. Samuel Town bought a common right of Nathaniel 
Wakefield's heirs, under which there was laid out to him thirteen 
acres, in December, 17 14, "where he now liveth, on the west side 
of the town road, in the line of Jacob Town's land, running to 
Jotham Mitchell's land," etc. 

Renewed boundary lines of and divided tract of land for John 
Mitchell and Joseph Bragdon, Junior, beginning at Kennebunk 
River, at a tree standing by the first salt water falls, running south- 
west to Esquire Storer's corner boundary, then west and southwest 
to Stephen Titcomb's line, then easterly to a remarkably rocky point 
by the river, then as the river runs to the place begun at; one-half 
part of said land (westerly) the property of John Mitchell and Mary 
Bragdon. and the easterly half part to Joseph Bragdon, Junior. 
Joseph Storer, Jabez Emery and Stephen Titcomb, owners of ad- 
joining lands, agree to the above boundaries and lines. January, 1778. 

Laid out for Samuel Town a tract of land containing sixty-seven 
and a half acres, which he bought of Hannah and Joseph Storer in 
1790, beginning at a point of rocks about two rods below the lower 
falls on Kennebunk River, adjoining Stephen Webber's land, etc., 
December, 1791. 

On or Near Little River. 

May ID, 1720. Proprietors granted to Joseph Storer, Francis 
Sayer, Thomas Wells and Jeremiah Storer, two hundred acres on 
north side of, adjoining their mill, eighty rods above and eighty 
rods below the mill, "in lieu of a grant which is represented to be 
lost"; also the privilege of twenty rods square on the south side, 
adjoining the mill, to be improved as a mill yard.^ During the year 
1720 grants were made as follows: of fifty acres to Peter Rich, 
on westerly side of Joseph Taylor's land; fifty acres to Philip 
Fowler, on westerly side of Peter Rich's land; fifty acres to 
Jonathan Sinkler, bounded north by Joseph Taylor's land and 
south by the road that goes into the country ; ten acres meadow 
to John Cole, on two small brooks that run into the northern branch 
of; fifty acres upland and ten of meadow to Joseph Day, on northern 

'This is the "Burnt Mill" lot, so frequently mentioned in the records. It 
begins " half a rod southwest of a large, fast rock on the bank of Little River, 
which rock is twelve rods from the Burnt Mill bridge up the river." The event 
from which this locality derives its name and the date of its occurrence cannot 
now be ascertained. "A mill stood there, among the first built in the township, 
which was burned by the Indians," comprises all history attainable. 



80 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

branch of, "near the upper way going to Mousam"; ten acres to 
Andrew Symington on the northern branch of, "beginning at the 
new highway," also to said Symington fifty acres upland, adjoining 
Jonathan Sinkler's land ; fifty acres to John Fane, adjoining Philip 
Fowler's land on the north, and on the south bounded by Joseph 
Day's land. Day exchanged his grant for this, laid out to Fane 
and forfeited, in 1728, by permission of the proprietors. 

From 172 1 to 1734. Laid out for Nicholas Cole eighty-five 
acres on, west side of (Little River) Great Falls, under grant to Frost 
and Hammond (1682); for Samuel Treadwell sixty-one acres near 
to the foregoing, under before-named grant ; twenty-five acres and 
falls on the main brook of the easterly branch of, for John Storer, 
under grant to Benjamin Storer (1670); for John Wheelwright one 
hundred acres on, under grant to John Reede (1666), eighty rods 
above and eighty rods below the mill formerly built by Sayer, Storer, 
Wells and Cole; for Nicholas Cole, under grant to William Frost, 
lot bovuided on northwest by old Mousam path, county road and 
bridge ; for Rev. Mr. Jefferds one hundred acres on northern branch 
of; for Nathaniel Clark ninety-five acres on, bounded by land of 
Peter Rich and others, under grant to his father (17 13); for William 
Taylor fifty acres, fifty rods in breadth by Mousam old road, adjoin- 
ing lot formerly Joseph Day's, leaving four rods for a highway; for 
Henry Maddox ten acres swamp land, part of former grant to 
Joseph Day. 

December 30, 1734. Town granted to James Gillpatrick on 
the southwest side of the northern branch of Little River, adjoining 
Rev. Mr. Jefferds' land, said land running to Little River, "sixty- 
six rods from Nathan Littlefield's land and from the highway, 
down by John Bourn," etc. Gillpatrick bought of Thomas Boothby 
a grant made to him in 1720 of land on Kennebunk River, but it 
was found that it could not be located at the place named in the 
instrument without trespassing on lots previously granted and laid 
out to other persons. The grant was then laid out on Little River, 
as above described, and Gillpatrick "settled on the land"; — in 
order to make his title perfect he petitioned the town for a confirma- 
tion of his action, and his petition was readily complied with. This 
lot continued in possession of Gillpatrick and his descendants until 
about 1875, when it was sold to Charles H. P. Storer. 

1734. Grant to Jeremiah Storer of one hundred acres, "begin- 
ning 20 rods N. E. from the Falls on Little River, commonly called. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 81 

between said river and the heads of the old lots, easterly," In 1735 
grant to same of eighty-six acres on, bounded on the northwest by 
the mill — land, etc., — grant to John Wheelwright of one hundred 
acres on the northern side of, "near the Burnt Mill, so-called"; 
confirmed grant to Nathan Littlefield of fifty acres, his homestead, 
near said river; laid out for Benjamin Gooch five acres of meadow 
ground, under grant to Joseph Day (1720), beginning "at the mouth 
of a small gully, near a pair of falls, where there is a small island of 
rocks"; January 14, 1735, proprietors sold two hundred acres to 
Samuel Clark (to raise money to pay their indebtedness), seventy- 
five acres of which were laid out on north side of, adjoining Eleazer 
Clark. 

1 741. Laid out for Peter Rich twelve acres, adjoining his land) 
on northern branch of (under C. L. & Co.'s grant), 1742. Laid out 
for James Gillpatrick ten acres on northern side of northern branch 
of, adjoining Rich's land, under grant to Daniel Boston. Laid out 
for Moses Chick twenty-five acres, under grant to Ichabod Cousens 
of one hundred acres on south side of Mousam River (1744), on 
northern branch of Little River; and for Joshua Goodwin, adjoining 
Chick's land, under same grant. 

1752. Laid out for John Wormwood, under Rich's grant, lot 
of land on northerly side of, a little above the saw-mill, adjoining 
Samuel Jefferds's and John Cole's lands. 

We find, occasionally, a specimen of magniloquent composition 
by our forefathers. A committee appointed by the town to settle 
the bounds of the ministerial lot of land (first parish), commence 
the report of their action in the matter as follows : — 

"This instrument made the twenty-first day of July, Anno 
Domini 1743 Anneq* Georgi secondi Magna Britanie & Decimo 
Septimo, witnesseth," etc. .The mass of the townsmen must have 
been highly edified while listening to this introductory sentence. 

On or Near Alewive Brook. 

172 1. Laid out for John Wells, under grant (i 671) of one hun- 
dred acres to John Gooch, and now sold for his heirs by Benjamin 
Gooch, fifty acres of upland on both sides of, "the other 50 acres 
laid out between the branches of Little River"; also laid out for 
said Wells ten acres of marsh on the southeast end of Alewive 
Brook, "lying in sundry forms, which contains all the marsh from 
thence to the brook's mouth " ; renewed bounds of thirty acres of 



82 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

meadow on, original grant to Nicholas Cole, Edmund and Samuel 
Littlefield, all deceased, now the property of Nicholas Cole and 
Samuel Littlefield, "runs north northeast to a small little hill on 
the northeast side of"; laid out for James Wakefield ten acres of 
meadow, bounded southeasterly by William Larrabee's meadow, . . . 
takes in a cove of about an acre, etc. 

1 72 1 to 1730. Laid out for John Look three acres of meadow 
on, bounded by Cole, Littlefield and Larrabee ; for Caleb Kimball, 
under grant to Samuel Littlefield (1680), ten acres on, "a little hill 
and two islands in the bounds "; for Nathaniel Kimball fifty acres up- 
land on southwest side of; for Joseph Hill, under grant to him (17 15), 
lot of meadow on, lying near the head of the township, " on a brook 
that runs into a pond commonly called [1729] Alewive Pond"; for 
Samuel Littlefield, " of Arundel, alias Capporpus," under grant to 
his father, Edmund Littlefield (1680), beginning at the upper great 
Beaver dam on, and running down on each side thereof to the first 
great falls, ten acres; ten acres of meadow to Samuel Wheelwright, 
"lying on a small brook which vents itself into the westerly corner 
of EUwife pond, beginning at Beaver dam," etc. ; lot of meadow on, 
to David Lawson, adjoining Stephen Larrabee's meadow and run- 
ning up the brook ; also lot of meadow on a small brook which runs 
into, then down to second beaver dam, "with all the small cricks 
and slangs lying within these bounds." 

1734. Laid out lots of meadow on, and on southwest side of 
Alewive Creek, for Samuel Emmons and Thomas W'ormwood, Junior, 
under Sinkler's grant (17 14). 

1738. Laid out for Samuel Littlefield nine acres of marsh "on 
the northern side of, at the head of James Wakefield's marsh, leaving 
eight rods by the brook, which is David Lawson's, then running up 
by said Lawson's till it meets with the upland and so back into the 
Popple Swamp, and one acre in the Round Houle." 

1743. Laid out for Samuel Littlefield ten acres meadow (under 
grant to C. L. & Co., 17 14), "at the Lower end of Alewive Pond, at 
the head of Lawson's meadow — part of it is three islands in said 
Pond"; laid out for Henry Maddox fifty acres, bought of Samuel 
Wheelwright, beginning thirty rods south of the mouth of the Ken- 
nebunk River, 

175 1. Laid out for John Maddox forty acres, near " Elwife 
brook," being part of Paty's grant (1669) and subsequently con- 
firmed to Samuel Wheelwright, "by whom it was sold to Shadrack 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 83 

Watson, beginning at Benj. Kimball's land on, thence running to 
the Mill Lot, so-called, belonging to said Kimball." 

Laid out for Caleb Kimball, Junior, seven acres of meadow, 
beginning at the head of a small run or brook "which venteth itself 
into Epheard Brook." (The description of this lot is imperfect. It 
is believed that the name Epheard Brook does not again appear on 
the records.) 

A friend who has a taste for the study of ancient things, to 
whom we referred this description, is satisfied, after patient exami- 
nation and inquiry, that the meadow named is that in Meserve's 
pasture, and the brook is that now known as " Boom Brook," which 
has its rise in that pasture, running thence across the road and 



On or Near Rankin's Brook or Creek. 

1720. Laid out for Andrew Symington ten acres meadow at 
and upon a small brook running into Mousam River, commonly 
called Rankin's Creek, beginning at the head of Clark's bounds and 
so running down the brook; seven acres on this brook laid out for 
Philip Fowler same year; two acres laid out for Peter Rich (17 21); 
Rich also purchased of Samuel Clark a few acres on this brook, 
which were confirmed to him by the proprietors in 1735; this lot 
adjoined Fowler's grant which was forfeited and subsequently laid 
out for John Storer; a lot of meadow on this brook was confirmed 
to John Bourne, 1728 ; John Wells, in 1731, under grant to his father 
(1668), sold about five acres thereon to Henry Maddox. 

1776. Surveyed for Moses Hubbard, under Look's grant 
(17 14), ten acres on, beginning at the county road at Nathaniel 
Cousens's fence. 



CHAPTER IX. 

I 720-1 750 LAND GRANTS ON THE MOUSAM RIVER "CAT MOUS- 

AM " MILLS SAW-MILLS ON ALEWIVE BROOK. 

Perhaps no method can be adopted by which more intelligible 
and accurate ideas can be formed of the progress of our settlement 
from 1720 to 1750 than that of copying or condensing, from the 
town and the proprietors' records, the principal grants and convey- 
ances of land made between these dates and therein recorded, and 
in chronological order as nearly as may be practicable. We there- 
fore continue the record of these grants and conveyances which 
was commenced in the preceding chapter. 

It is true that many of the original grants were forfeited and 
again granted to other persons, and not unfrequently the second 
grantees failed to fulfill the conditions of their conveyances, and the 
tracts were once more granted, and to third parties. No little confu- 
sion was occasioned by carelessness in laying out grants, by which 
encroachments were often made on those previously surveyed, and 
many conveyances were made by persons of whom there is no ante- 
rior mention and of whose ownership of the lots thus conveyed no 
recorded evidence is found; still, notwithstanding their intricacy 
and in some cases incomprehensibleness, these records clearly indi- 
cate the portions of territory that first attracted the attention of the 
settlers and speculators of the period, and, moreover, furnish us with 
the names of those who in olden times were temporarily inhabitants 
within our bounds. Little River, in consequence of its proximity to 
the main settlement, was improved by the mill men at an early day; 
the superior water power on the Mousam, as well as the intervales 
and salt marshes on its banks and in its immediate vicinity, and the 
mill sites and intervales on the Kennebunk were soon sought by 
speculators and settlers, while the meadows on Alewive Brook and 
on Rankin's Brook or Creek were among the earliest for which grants 
were solicited. Water power and timber land for the mills, and 
intervale and marsh for grass and edible grains and other plants 
were in request, while the upland was in a great measure neglected. 

84 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 85 



On or Near Mousam River. 



1 701. Laid out for Nicholas Cole grant of ten acres of marsh 
on, beginning at the eastern side of a point of land commonly called 
" Ipses Poainte," on the western side, and for Nathaniel Clark ten 
acres, beginning at the upper end of Cole's land. 

1717. Laid out for Nathaniel Clark, Senior, five acres fresh 
meadow, lying upon a brook which runs into, beginning at a tree 
"where comes in a small brook on the easterly side of said brook, 
running up the last-named westerly." 

Laid out for Samuel Littlefield one hundred acres on northerly 
side of, adjoining Thomas Wormwood's land, forty rods in breadth, 
to run northeast on the easterly side to Kennebunk River, and on 
the northerly side of James Wakefield's land. (Sold to Henry Mad- 
dox, 1732.) 

171S. Laid out for Joseph Storer one hundred acres upland 
on the southwest side of, beginning above the upper wading-place, 
forty rods in breadth by the river. 

1 7 19. Grant to John Look — laid out in 1723 — of a quantity 
of land joining Rachel Taylor's on southwest side of, to make his 
home lot one hundred acres. 

1720. Proprietors grant to William Harmon fifty acres, adjoin- 
ing Mr. Corwin's land, forty rods by; to William Larrabee lot of 
meadow land, on west side of, on creek or brook running throu^-h 
Joseph Taylor's land. 

1727. Laid out for Samuel Curtis one hundred acres on west 
side of, under grant to Eenjamin Curtis (1684). 

1729. Laid out for David Lawson lot of "marsh and thatch 
islands, beginning at western end of the Great Hill, containing three 
islands." 

1730. Grant to Benjamin Storer of one hundred acres upland 
and marsh, on southwest side of. 

1731. "Laid out for John Low, grandson to Herlackindon 
Symonds," one hundred thirty-five acres, under grant to Thomas 
Mussey (1659), which he sold to Symonds in 1660, beginning at 
the head of Edmund Littlefield's marsh on northeast side of, " and 
adjoining land that was granted to William Larrabee, now deceased, 
and now in the possession of Edmund Evans, thence northwest up 
the river sixty rods, and thence three hundred sixty rods to Kenne- 
bunk River to a marked tree, and thence down river sixty rods 



86 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

southeasterly to a marked tree, thence southwesterly to the first- 
mentioned bounds." This tract was formerly known as " Low's line." 

1734. Laid out for Richard Stimpson and Ichabod Cousens, 
heirs of Thomas Cole, under grant to said Cole (1693), one hundred 
acres on southwest side of, beginning at the head of the township ; 
for Jedediah Gooch sixty-five acres, under grant to Robert Sinkler 
(17 13) ; for Jedediah Gooch two lots aggregating seventy-five acres, 
on and near the river, under grant to Robert Sinkler (17 14). Grant 
to Ichabod Cousens one hundred acres on south side of. Cousens 
sold twenty-five acres of this grant to Joshua Goodwin, which was 
laid out near the northern branch of Little River in 1743- 

1735. Laid out for John Webber, under grant to William Har- 
mon (1720), ten acres salt marsh on the northwest side of, "seeittu- 
iote and lying on the easterly cove or crick commonly called Cutts' 
Cove"; also eighty acres near a place called Wood Neck, adjoining 
Stephen Harding, etc., which Webber bought of Samuel Littlefield. 

A grant of two hundred acres, lying on the northeast side of, 
was confirmed to Samuel Wheelwright, July 14, 1735. These two 
hundred acres were originally granted (1669) to James Johnson, of 
York, and Thomas Paty, of Wells, one hundred acres to each, and 
were forfeited for non-compliance with conditions. It does not 
appear by what operation these two grants, more than sixty years 
after they had been forfeited, were united and Paty named as sole 
grantee. 

Grant to Joseph Sayer and Nathaniel Wells of one hundred and 
fifty acres on westerly side of, " it being the land called Eps Point, 
beginning at the second creek from the [old] Harbor's mouth, and 
so running by and upon said creek and upon Mousam River," etc. 

1736. Laid out for James Littlefield seventeen and one-half 
acres on the easterly side of, "where there is now a mill erected," 
beginning at " Benjamin Gooch's easterly corner bound of five 
acres." This was part of a grant (December 7, 1659) to Francis 
Littlefield, Senior, and Joseph Bolles of "two hundred acres apiece, 
with all the marsh on both sides of four mile brook." 

1737. Laid out for John Cults, of Portsmouth, N. H. (proba- 
bly an heir to John Cutts, deceased, to whom Sanders sold this 
estate in 1663), all the real estate in Wells which was formerly 
owned by the late John Sanders, comprising the grants to said 
Sanders by Thomas Gorges and by the town of Wells, in all four 
hundred acres, "beginning at the easterly side of the Little River, 
at the upper wading-place, and so running up and by said river to 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 87 

the second creek to Henry Boothby's bounds and northeasterly to 
his northern corner," thence to the second creek on Mousam River, 
"and so down the river until it cometh to the sea and so by the sea- 
wall to the first-mentioned bounds." By whom the Sanders house 
was occupied for seventy-four years subsequently to its purchase by 
the senior Cutts is not certainly known. 

Sanders, after selling his estate between Mousam and Little 
Rivers, removed to Cape Porpoise, where Bradbury states he pur- 
chased land and attended town meeting in 1663. He died in 1670. 
His estate was inventoried at about seven hundred dollars, although 
it included one thousand acres of land, situated "eight or nine miles 
above Cape Porpus river falls." He left two sons, Thomas and 
John, one daughter, Elizabeth, and perhaps other children. 

1747. Laid out for Jedediah Wakefield, under grant to James 
Wakefield (17 14), forty acres bounded on, about two rods below the 
mile spring and running down said river. 

1749. Renewed bounds of one hundred acres upland on south- 
west side of, grant to Joseph Storer (17 14), beginning a little above 
the upper wading-place and running up river, for John Storer. 

1750. Laid out for Benjamin Cousens, under grant to Thomas 
Cole, one hundred acres (16S4), fifty-seven acres on southwest side 
of, adjoining John Storer's land, a little above the bridge, running 
southwest one hundred sixty and southeast sixty rods, then east to 
river; forty-three acres on northwest side of Storer's land, running 
southwest one hundred twenty and north eighty rods to gully, thence 
north to Rankin's Creek^ and down this creek to the river. 

Cat Mousam Mill. 

The precise date when the first mill was built on the Middle 
Falls (Cat Mousam) cannot be determined. In September, 1736, 
under grant to Francis Littlefield, Senior, and Joseph Bolles (1659), 
there was laid out for Benjamin Gooch two and a half acres of land 
on the northern side of the Mousam, beginning at the "mouth of a 
small gully, near a certain pair of falls, where there is a small island 
of rocks, about twenty-four rods down said river from the mentioned 
place," and in November of the same year there was laid out for 
said Gooch a lot of about nine acres of meadow land, under Jona- 
than Littlefield's grant of two hundred ten acres of upland and 
marsh (1688), "beginning about twenty-four rods above the new 

^Subsequently known as " Rand's Spring," but the original designation has 
been restored in later years. 



88 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

mill, on the easterly side of Mousani River, at the mouth of a small 
gull)'," etc.^ These are the first references we find to a mill on 
these falls. If it was the new mill in 1736, we may reasonably sup- 
pose that it could not have been built earlier than 1730. In the 
surveyor's description of a lot of land laid out near these falls in 
March, 1738, he says, "beginning on the northern side of Mousam 
River, where the selectmen's mill, so-called, stood." It would 
appear from this that the new mill was generally known as the 
selectmen's mill and that it was not standing in March, 1738; 
whether it had been destroyed by fire or flood is unknown. Why it 
was called the " selectmen's mill " can be conjectured only. In 
1730 Joseph Hill, Samuel Wheelwright, John Storer and Francis 
Littlefield were selectmen of Wells, all of whom were enterprising 
mill owners ; it is not improbable that they erected this mill, or, at 
least, held the larger part of it, and hence its designation. 

In describing the bounds of a lot of land laid out near the 
Middle Falls in 1743, the surveyor says, "which is near the saw-mill 
that stands on said river." We learn from this that a saw-mill had 
been erected on or near the site of that destroyed prior to 1738, but 
probably not by the same parties ; there is no reason to believe that 
it was built principally by persons owning the land in the vicinity of 
the falls. Mary Bulman, widow of Dr. Alexander Bulman, of York, 
gave a bond, dated January 31, 1748, for the conveyance by herself 
and her son Alexander, when he should become twenty-one years of 
age, "of one-eighth part of a certain saw-mill now standing on the 
river of Mousam," which her husband in his lifetime bought of Ben- 
jamin Gooch. This mill, in common with all others on the stream, 
was carried away by the great freshet of 1755. We find evidence 
that another mill was built on these falls prior to 1761, which is 
described as "a double mill known as the Middle Mill," which we 
think was owned chiefl)', if not entirely, by persons residing east of 
Little River; this succumbed to a remarkable freshet in 1785, by 
which the mill property on the stream was again very nearly, if not 
entirely, destroyed. The dams on the river at this time, as they had 

^ In Yi'iH there was laid out for Samuel Littlefield, under grant to Caleb Little - 
field cfe Oo. of six hundred acres upland and sixty acres of fresh meadow (1714), two 
hundred acres of upland and meadow in the vicinity of the mill lot, and in 1743 
the remainder of their grant, four hundred acres of upland and thirty of meadow, 
was also laid out for said Samuel, three hundred of which was " near the Middle 
Falls " and one hundred acres "at a place called the mile spring "; but he proba- 
bly could not fulfill the conditions of this deed, inasmuch as, a few years later^ 
the original grantees sold in small lots, to different persons, the whole of the six 
hundred and thirty acres laid out for Samuel Littlefield in 1788 and 1743. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 89 

been in preceding years, were weak structures, poorly calculated to 
withstand the flood that, during these freshets, filled and overflowed 
the banks of the stream and rushed oceanward with a volume and 
power of which we can now hardly form any conception. 

We must depend upon tradition for the scanty particulars that 
can be given in reference to the fourth mill erected on these falls. 
It was built about 1790, in shares, of which there were forty-eight, 
the shareholders being divided into two classes, — the owners of the 
privilege and persons who had no interest in the water powder and 
mill yard, but who had contributed labor or materials employed in 
its construction ; each of these shareholders was entitled to its use a 
certain number of days in the year, according to his interest, 
respectively, in the privilege or building. This was the method of 
mill building generally pursued in this vicinity (and we think 
throughout New England) by the early settlers and as late as the 
first quarter of the nineteenth century. There were very few per- 
sons whose pecuniary means were sufficient to enable them to under- 
take such a work single-handed, and, moreover, there were obvious 
advantages secured by this community of interests. 

The last-named mill was so severely shattered by a spring 
freshet, a few years after it had been put in operation, that very 
extensive repairs were required. Several of the shareholders, privi- 
lege owners and others, declined to assist in the making of these 
repairs, and persons not previously interested became proprietors, 
either by purchase of rights in the water power or through the fur- 
nishing of labor and materials. The repairs were not thoroughly 
made, so that when completed the mill was far from being first-class, 
even for the time ; it did not command a large business and gradu- 
ally became so dilapidated that it could not be profitably worked. 

In 1825 Jesse Varney, of Dover, N. H., the agent of and a 
partner in a company that had purchased the water power and land 
connected therewith at the village, endeavored to purchase this mill 
site. Joseph Storer had already conveyed to the company ten shares 
in the privilege and Mr. Varney succeeded in obtaining twenty-two 
additional shares, with two or three desirable strips of land, when it 
was found that there were so many claimants to "days" in the mill 
and to some of the remaining rights in the privilege that it was con- 
sidered inexpedient to proceed further, inasmuch as a controlling 
interest in the water power, the chief object in view, had been 
secured. In 1828 Mr. Varney and his company were compelled to 



90 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

succumb to pecuniary embarrassments, and the before-named pur- 
chases by him were set off on execution to James K. Remich, a 
creditor, by whom, on the payment of his claim by them, his interest 
was assigned to Isaac R. Bearce and others, of Pennsylvania, to 
whom Mr. Varney was indebted. The privilege lay idle for several 
years, during which time a few offers were made for it, but ridicu- 
lously low, in consequence of apprehended trouble in obtaining a 
clear and peaceful title to the whole premises. In 1855 Oliver Per- 
kins and Joseph Dane purchased the rights held by Bearce and 
others and those conveyed by Storer, and the following summer 
erected a saw-mill between the old site and Mitchell's mill, thus 
obtaining control of the water power and avoiding all difficulties 
that might arise from conflicting claims. 

As early as 1752 the mill on the Middle Falls is referred to, in 
a conveyance of a lot of land, as "the Saw-mill called the Cat-mill." 
From what occurrence it received this sobriquet is not positively 
known. Of the many explanations given, we regard that related to 
the author several years ago, by an aged gentleman who was born 
and had always resided in the neighborhood, as the most reasonable 
and trustworthy : The workmen in the second mill on these falls 
were much annoyed by graceless youngsters who were frequent visi- 
tors and who were in the habit of getting off coarse jokes and play- 
ing mischievous pranks. Suspicions had often crossed the minds 
of these mill men that their dinner boxes had been meddled with, 
and these suspicions were effectually confirmed one day when they 
found these boxes completely relieved of their contents. The 
youngsters were then ordered to leave the premises and were threat- 
ened with severe punishment if again found there. One of the men 
was especially demonstrative, applying to them hard epithets and 
consigning them to regions where "waves of fire and brimstone roll." 
Now this man had a cat to which he was much attached and which 
was almost idolized by his wife. On going to the mill the morning 
following the day of this disturbance he found the lifeless body of 
this pet suspended from one of the beams; the bronzed, rough, stal- 
wart man " wept like a child," nor could his fellow-workmen refrain 
from tears while witnessing the distress of their companion. It may 
be safely said that those troublesome lads were never again found, 
individually nor collectively, within the bounds of the mill yard.^ 

^Another tradition, less credible, savoring strongly of the marvelous and illus- 
trative of the superstitious notions quite extensively entertained at the time, 
has been handed down: While the second mill built on these middle falls was 
standing and in operation, the night hands were for a season frequently visited 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 91 

Thereafter the mill was nicknamed " the cat mill." The story- 
reached distant neighborhoods, and the scene of the occurrence was 
described as "the cat mill on the Mousam " ; the nickname has 
been attached to all the mills subsequently built on the site. The 
territory in the vicinity on the western side of the river, where were 
the homes of the workmen (there was no dwelling-house on the east- 
ern side of the river for many years after the event above related) 
was known as "Cat Mousam," which name is still retained by the 
locality and has been adopted by the eleventh school district (as 
now numbered) as its distinctive title. The occurrence from which 
this title is derived dates back nearly one hundred and fifty years ; 
the district is now a very pleasant section of the town, is sufficiently 
populous for a farming territory, and contains many neat and com- 
modious dwelling-houses which are occupied by thrifty and intelligent 
families; the barns and other outbuildings, in arrangement and 
appearance, are creditable to the owners; the land is well and suc- 
cessfully cultivated, the schools are cared for and the district is 
noted for its thriftiness. The following may be interesting to the 
inhabitants of the district under consideration. 

May lo, 1762. The proprietors voted "that the piece of land 
lying on Mousam River between Mr. John Mitchell's lot and Mr. 
John Cousens' land to be common till further orders from the pro- 
prietors." This lot is sometimes referred to as the " High Landing." 

1752. Richard Thompson bought forty acres, on the west side 
of his house lot, under John Look's grant ^ of one hundred acres 

by a cat, which was in the habit of sitting upon the logs when on the carriage 
and moving toward the saw, and when driven from one taking the same position 
on the next. One night the mill man, after warning the animal to leave, said to 
her, " Well, if you do not get off I will let the saw cut you in two." Unmindful of 
this threat, as well as of efforts to frighten her away, the cat kept her position 
until, coming in contact with the saw, one of her forepaws was cut off. The paw 
fell into the stream and the cat immediately disappeared. The next morning it 
was ascertained that a woman in the neighborhood had lost one of her hands 
during the preceding night ; of course she was a witch, had taken the form of a 
cat, and suffered mutilation in the manner just related. Whether she was mar- 
ried or single, or whether she had been impelled by jealousy or love, the tradi- 
tion does not inform us. 

^This grant appears to have held out like "the widow's cruse." It was origi- 
nally laid out, adjoining Larrabee's, on the east side of the river, and it is pre- 
sumed was good measure, inasmuch as, after it had been located. Wormwood, 
who had a grant of the adjoining lot, could get only sixty acres without trespass- 
ing, and consequently, in 172;}, he was allowed "a quantity" more, twenty-five 
rods in breadth on the southwest side of the river, " to make his home lot one 
hundred acres." We find, however, that under Look's grant, besides the original 
location of one hundred acres, in 1752 the above-named lot of forty acres was laid 
out under this grant, and that in 1772 Moses Hubbard sold to Edmund Ourrier 
thirty-seven acres and had ten acres of marsh surveyed for himself, all under 
same grant. 



92 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

(17 14), — the Richard Thompson homestead on the road from 
Alewive to West Kennebunk, now owned and occupied by Edmund 
Thompson, son of David (who resided there) and great-grandson of 
Richard. 

Surveyed for Joseph Oilman two lots of land "in the center 
division of the common lands of Wells and Kennebunk, lying in 
Kennebunk, being lots numbered nine and seventeen in said divis- 
ion, which lots said Oilman purchased of Samuel Langdon and 
others, and are situated within the Cat Mousam District," one of 
which contained one hundred seven acres and the other one hun- 
dred eight acres and sixty rods. Oilman subsequently sold these 
lots to John Webber, of York, who was the first settler in the Web- 
ber District. 

Joseph Taylor, Sr., caused his grant of one hundred acres of 
upland and ten of marsh (1693) to be laid out for his son, Joseph, 
Jr., on southwest side of Mousam River. About 1752 Joseph, Jr., 
erected a small dwelling-house on the low land south of the hill, 
where he dwelt a few years ; it was afterward torn down and he 
erected a good-sized, two-story house on the high land, where he 
died. He was succeeded in its occupancy by his son Jonathan. 
After his decease it was purchased by Michael Wise, who carried 
on the farm (by a tenant) during his lifetime. After his death it 
came into possession of Thacher Jones, who tore down all the old 
buildings and erected a very neat dwelling-house, together with 
barns and other buildings. The present owner is Oeorge T. Jones. 

1759. Laid out for John Cousens "fifteen acres of land, being 
part of ninescore acres which Adam Gushing, late of Weymouth, 
bought of Oilbert Brooks, and was formerly the estate of William 
Taylor, bounded in part by second Mousam mill privilege." 

1772. Laid out for Eliab Littlefield forty-four acres, under 
John Littlefield's grant (17 15), adjoining said Eliab's land and run- 
ning by Benjamin Stevens's line. 

Laid out for Samuel Burnham three acres and more, being part 
of a grant to Rev. Daniel Little (1773), sold by Little to Hubbard, 
1774, and by Hubbard to said Burnham, 1774; beginning at Burn- 
ham's southwest corner of fifty acres, adjoining Alewive road, run- 
ning by Burnham's land to a stake, then south-southeast to James 
Lord's land, by Lord's land south-southwest to Oideon Walker's 
land, etc. 

Laid out for John Oillpatrick, Jr., ten acres of land on or near 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 93 

Mousam River, being part of ninescore acres which Adam Gushing 
bought of Gilbert Brooks, and which was formerly part of the estate 
of William Taylor, February, 1775. 

1777. Moses Hubbard sold to Edmund Gurrier thirty-seven 
acres, under Look's grant (i7i4)» "beginning at the north corner of 
Joseph Storer's home lot, running thence to Deacon Kimball's 
fence, to Reuben Hatch's line and by his land to Mousam road." 

1796. Proprietors granted to Richard Hill (negro) all the 
"common land on the south side of the brook, between Mr. Little's 
land and the land he bought of Major Cousens and the country road 
as it now goes, leaving a road through for black Ghance." 

Laid out for James Rankin, under Samuel Wheelwright's grant, 
about nineteen acres, "beginning at a stump standing northerly of a 
marked tree, commonly called Henry Hart's northerly corner 
bounds, thence running southeast by said Hart's land,'' etc. 

Laid out for Joel Larrabee seven acres of a lot of eleven acres 
of land sold to him by the Wheelwright heirs, November, 1797, 
"beginning at a stake in Thomas Wormwood's line,^ by the road 
leading from the post road to Cat Mousam." 

December, 1801. Laid out for Jedediah Gooch, under grant to 
John Littlefield, Jr. (16S3), conveyed to Gooch by John Winn in 
September, 1777, a lot of land bounded as follows: beginning at a 
stone standing near a marked pine tree, on the eastern side of the 
highway, by land formerly belonging to John Frieze, then easterly 
to a rock by Messrs. Larrabee's land, thence by different points to 
a marked stump in a low, wet piece of ground by the side of the 
road leading to Mr. Titcomb's, etc., etc., being on the northeast 
side of Mousam road, so-called. 

The Saw-mills on Alewive Brook. 

The precise date when, or by whom, the first saw-mill on Ale- 
wive Brook was erected is not known. We find that John Wells 
conveyed to Joshua and Benjamin Kimball'- (doubtless, we think, 
the sons of Galeb, Sr.), September 9, 1740, one-half of the saw-mill 
on Alewive Brook, together with fifty acres of upland and ten of 

^ Thomas Wormwood owned and occupied a small house and several acres of 
land on the west side of the road leading to Oat Mousam, nearly opposite the 
present dwelling house of Charles L. Dresser; an old poplar tree recently stand- 
ing there was in front of his house. Mr. Benjamin F. Hill is now the owner of 
the lot and has erected a dwelling-house thereon. 

'Joshua married Sarah Thompson, July 14, 1742; Benjamin married Lydla 
Morrison, February 17, 1748. 



94 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

marsh; the bounds of the upland are thus described: beginning "at 
the head upon a fresh marsh lately sold to Samuel Littlefield, at a 
marked tree, thirty-four rods from said brook, thence northeast 
across said brook sixty-seven rods, the breadth of said land, and 
thence running down on both sides said brook a southeast course 
one hundred twenty rods, the length of said upland ; the marsh lying 
on the southeast end of said upland, in several forms, which contain 
all the marsh from thence to the brook's mouth," according to the 
return of Nicholas Cole, surveyor, March 12, 1720; "also, half the 
timber growing or standing on fifty acres of land, beginning at a 
white oak stump, by a run of water, about eighty or ninety rods 
west from the aforesaid brook, which empties itself between the two 
falls into said brook, . . . M'ith privilege of cutting down and carry- 
ing any part of the timber on said lot," which was conveyed to said 
Wells by Nathaniel and Richard Kimball, June 28, 1728. 

Joshua died at Cape Breton in 1745. Whether his share of the 
mill was sold, or operated by a guardian for the benefit of his child 
or children, we are unable to say; the latter, however, we think was 
the case. We find recorded on the county records, between the 
years 1767 and 1791, about thirty deeds of lots of land, situated in 
Kennebunk, Buxton (chiefly) and York, conveyed to Joshua Kim- 
ball, who, we have reason to believe, was the son of Joshua and Sarah. 

We are informed that, including the mill above named, there 
have been four mills erected on this site from time to time. We do 
not know that either of these was carried away by a freshet or 
destroyed by the Indians, — the dilapidation of the old necessitated 
the erection of the new. The fourth was taken down several years 
ago and the privilege has not since been improved. The late James 
Smith erected a saw-mill a few rods above the site of the old mills, 
connected with which was a grist-mill. These he operated for sev- 
eral years before his death, in 1889. The mills (1890) are owned 
by his estate. 



CHAPTER X. 

KENNEBUNK AS IT WAS IN 1750. 

The lists of grants and transfers in preceding chapters enable 
us to form quite an accurate idea of the progress that had been 
made toward the settlement of our territory, as well as of the por- 
tions of it that had been improved, at the close of the first half of 
the last century.^ There seems to be good ground for believing 
that a majority of the adults residing here at that time were well 
disposed and industrious citizens ; their lands were skillfully culti- 
vated and yielded remunerative crops. Among those who were 
permanent residents were a blacksmith and a shoemaker and tanner, 
mechanics essential to the convenience, if not prosperity, of the 
settlement. Two saw-mills, one on the Kennebunk and one on the 
Middle Falls on the Mousam, were in operation. Although settlers 
were mainly seeking homesteads in the interior of the town, the sea- 
coast and its vicinity were not neglected. 

According to Bourne's History, there were in 1750 within 
our territorial limits thirty inhabited houses, one untenantable 
cabin, a meeting house, two saw-mills in operation and one in a 
dilapidated condition. Other houses had been built on the territory 
which had either been destroyed by the Indians or the ravages of 
time, viz. : that of John Sanders, at the mouth of the Mousam; that 
of Ephraim Poke, on what is now known as Gillespie's Point ; that 
of John Cheater, near the second creek on the Mousam; that of 
Rachel Taylor on the sea road (perhaps, however, this was the one 
occupied by Edward Evans) ; one or more at the Great Falls, one or 
more at Cat Mousam or Middle Falls, and probably several others. 

Allowing that the thirty families in our township averaged five 
persons each, our population in 1750 was one hundred fifty. We 
think this is an under statement. We know that one dwelling-house 
then standing is not named in the list given by Bourne, — that of 
Philip Brown,— which stood very near the site of the Granite State 
House ; while workmen were excavating for the cellar of the Granite 
State House, they discovered the underpinning rocks of Brown's house 

95 



96 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and used some of them in the work. There was a saw-mill in oper- 
ation at the Middle Falls, and it seems strange that there should 
have been only one dwelling in the whole section known as Cat 
Mousam and only one on the Plains. Still we have no reliable 
authority for saying that others were standing in these localities at 
the above-named date. 

Not only were these dwelling-places cold and cheerless, but in 
common with a large majority of New England homes they were 
scantily furnished; boxes and chests were quite frequently substi- 
tuted for chairs and tables, and the floors, for bedsteads, while the 
supply of kitchen utensils was exceedingly limited. We presume 
their outfit in the matter of clothing must have been quite primitive, 
both in fashion and material; boots were hardly known; buskins, 
made of the skins of animals, more easily obtained than cloth and 
far better withal, and fastened with strings made of the skins of 
woodchucks or of eels, formed the winter covering of the feet of the 
laborer, hunter or traveler ; their headgear, of the same materials, 
was often grotesque beyond description. Books were rarely found 
within their dwellings, and probably, if they had been attainable, 
there were very few who could read them. There were no schools, 
no physician who could be summoned in case of sudden illness, and 
the church was far from their homes ; miles of forest separated 
neighbors, between whom communication could only be had by 
means of narrow, winding and rough paths, the traveler along which 
was not unfrequently intercepted by bears or other wild animals ; 
but, during the continuance of the frequent Indian wars, more to be 
dreaded than any other danger was the savage foe, stealthy and 
unfeeling, in ambush near dwellings and pathways, ready to inflict 
upon the unsuspecting or unarmed white, regardless of age or sex, 
the most revolting cruelties. At such seasons these pioneers, as 
they watched the setting sun, day after day, could hardly repress the 
fear that before its rising their dwellings would be fired by the enemy, 
their crops destroyed, and that they themselves, if their lives were 
spared, would be seeking shelter and a hiding place, or would be 
prisoners on their way to some rendezvous for the safe-keeping 
of the unfortunates who fell into the hands of the tawny warriors. 

These pioneers appear to have been fitted by Nature to endure 
the hardships and privations and to grapple with the dangers inci- 
dent to the peculiar position they occupied. They must have been 
a hardy and a courageous people who could erect their cabins on 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 97 

" meadow lands," in the vicinity of streams whose waters never 
reflected the features of civilized man (before their own had been 
mirrored there), or on clearings made by themselves in a forest which 
had never echoed the sound of an ax until it was wielded there by 
their own muscular arms, and who could look upon their unsightly 
surroundings and their roughly-fashioned dwelling-places and say : 
"These are our homes, in this wilderness is our life work to be 
accomplished." Of their antecedents we are entirely ignorant, — 
perhaps in many cases it is better that we should so remain ; but of 
these facts we have ample evidence, that they battled vigorously 
and successfully against the adverse circumstances by which they 
were beset, that they laid foundations whereon succeeding genera- 
tions have builded in peace, and that to-day we are reaping benefits 
from the toils and sufferings to which they were subjected. Sad 
memorials we have of them, in the unlettered, stone-marked mounds 
that are found in our fields and waste lands, raised by whom or 
when we have no means of ascertaining, covering the remains of 
persons whose names are unknown, of whose lives we have no 
record. They lie in their lone sepulchers unremembered and unre- 
garded ; for them the decree, "dust unto dust" has been accom-. 
plished, the promise "mortal shall put on immortality" has been 
fulfilled. These humble and saddening reminders of the past are 
fast disappearing ; many of them have already been leveled with 
the surrounding earth by the coulter of the plow and are now unrec- 
ognizable ; those still remaining, before the lapse of many years, 
will have shared the same fate, and these suggestive memorials will 
be referred to by coming generations as spots where mounds were 
visible many years ago, when our great-great-grandfathers were living. 

The Schools. 

The early settlers manifested commendable interest in the edu- 
cation of their children, but it was only through persistent efforts 
that they were enabled to obtain their rightful share of the money 
appropriated by the town for the support of schools. The first 
educational movement by the town appears to have been made on 
the twentieth of March, 1716, when a vote was passed instructing 
the selectmen to "ewse there Indevor" to procure a schoolmaster, 
compensation not to exceed ^20 and his "diate." In May, lyiy.the 
town voted to hire Mr. Richard Martin as schoolmaster, and to pay 
him £4.^ 12 3. per annum, "on condition that he faithfully performs 



98 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the work of a schoolmaster in the town, teaching all the children 
belonging to the town that shall be sent to him wrighting, sifering 
or latin according to their capacity." Votes were annually passed, 
from the date of the foregoing until 1731, providing for the support 
of schools in different parts of the town west of Little River. By 
this action the children residing east of the river were virtually 
excluded from them, in consequence of their geographical position, 
but the residents on this territory were regularly taxed for their sup- 
port; of this they complained very justly, but not until 1731 were 
they enabled to obtain any recognition of their reasonable claim. 
In this year the town voted "that the families to the eastward of 
Mousam River be allowed ^5 [about $18] on condition they keep 
a school for teaching their children to that value or upwards for 
this year," If the families east of the Mousam availed themselves 
of the privilege granted by this vote, the school must have been 
kept in a dwelling-house, either in the Kimball neighborhood or at 
the Landing, and was probably under the care of the teacher who 
had charge of the other schools in town. We infer, however, that 
its condition was not accepted, inasmuch as there was no further 
provision made by the town for the instruction of these children 
until 1740. Commencing with this year, when it was voted that the 
school be kept "four months at Kennebunk and Mousam," appro- 
priations were annually voted for the support of schools in this 
section. The vote in 1743 was as follows: "If the people living 
betwixt Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers and Thomas Wormwood, 
Jr., living on the southerly side of Mousam River, shall provide 
themselves with a schoolmaster, they shall receive from the town 
the amount of school tax paid by them." For some reason this vote 
was not renewed the following year, but whether in consequence of 
dissatisfaction on the part of our people or of the majority does not 
appear. The appropriations for this object were always meager and 
unsatisfactory, much less than actually needed for effective services 
in this "remote part of the town," as it was termed by our fellow- 
citizens residing in the more populous section. 

Public Worship. 

Unsatisfactory treatment in respect to the apportionment of the 
school money was not the only subject of complaint by our people 
against the majority. Another cause for dissatisfaction was found 
in the dictatorial manner in which their applications to the town for 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. i)\i 

aid in the maintenance of public worship nearer their homes was 
disposed of. They formed nearly one-sixth of the entire population 
of Wells and certainly were not behind their southwestern neighbors 
in business enterprise and general thriftiness. For more than a 
century they and their predecessors had been taxed for the support 
of the ministry, as well as for the building of the meeting-house and 
parsonage and repairs thereon. Many of them had attended the 
Sunday exercises there, traveling five or seven miles for this pur- 
pose, over rough roads, either on foot or horseback. There was, 
however, no good ground for complaint while the settlers were few 
and struggling with poverty; it was the best that could be done. 
But now, when their number and means were greater, they felt that 
they were able to maintain public worship, for a portion of the time, 
nearer their homes, and thus enable their families to participate 
in religious exercises, which hitherto had been necessarily denied 
them, and they regarded it as reasonable to ask that they might 
thereafter be exempted from the ministerial tax, in order that they 
might maintain, in their comparatively isolated district, a separate 
service for spiritual edification and improvement. A petition to 
this effect was presented to the town in 1744; the action thereon is 
thus recorded: "The request of the inhabitants of Kennebunk was 
put to vote and passed in the negative, relating to their being set off 
as a precinct." The following spring, however, the town voted ;^20 
old tenor toward paying their minister (at Kennebunk) the past win- 
ter; in 1746 the town voted ^20 for this object; in 1747, £30; in 
1748, ^50; in 1749, ^60; and in 1750, ;^6o. 

In 1746 the freeholders of Kennebunk petitioned that they 
might be set off to join with a part of Arundel as a parish. A town 
meeting was called to consider this matter, but it was adjourned 
without any vote having been taken in reference to it. 

Indignant that their petition should have been treated so dis- 
courteously, and well satisfied that no good results could ensue from 
further efforts, in this direction, to obtain a recognition of their 
rights, the inhabitants of Kennebunk determined to appeal to the 
General Court of Massachusetts, and in pursuance of this resolution 
a petition setting forth the merits of their case was prepared and 
presented to that body in 1749. A town meeting was held on the 
twenty-second of May "to consider what may be proper to be Done 
In Making answer to Petition Exhibited into the grate and General 
Court of a number of the Inhabitants of the town of Wells Living 



100 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

between Kennebunk and Mousam rivers to be seet of as a Distink 
Parish," and it was voted that Samuel Wheelwright make answer to 
said petition, in behalf of the town, and lay before the General Court 
the reasons why its prayers should not be granted. Wheelwright 
succeeded in getting the matter postponed to the next session, to be 
held in 1750. This movement tended to increase rather than allay 
the excitement on the part of the petitioners. On "sober second 
thought " the majority were convinced that further resistance would 
be unavailing, would occasion no inconsiderable labor and expense 
and would be productive of increased ill-feeling between the eastern 
and western sections of the town, and, therefore, that it would be 
sound policy, as well as an act of justice, to withdraw all opposition 
and accede gracefully to the wishes of those residing "in the remote 
part of the town." Accordingly a town meeting was held on the 
fourteenth day of May, 1750, at which it was voted: — "That the 
inhabitants living between Kennebunk and Mousam rivers, in Wells, 
with the lands and estates of every kind lying between said Kenne- 
bunk and Mousam, to the head of the township, be and is set off as 
a Distinct Parish, in order to settle the Gospel amongst them."^ 

A petition to the Massachusetts General Court for an act of 
incorporation was at once prepared and presented by thirty-five 
men. This petition was favorably acted upon by that body, and the 
inhabitants of Kennebunk on the fourteenth day of June, 1750, were 
incorporated as the "Second Congregational Society in Wells." 

The names of the petitioners were as follows, probably all the 
male adults within the parish : 

John Butland, John Gillpatrick, Jr., *James ^^'akefield, 

*Richard Boothby, *Richard Kimball, Nathaniel Wakefield, 

Philip Brown, *Nathaniel Kimball, *Jedediah Wakefield, 

John Burke, *Thomas Kimball, *John Wakefield, 

Ichabod Cousens, *Stephen Larrabee, *John Wakefield, Jr. 
*Thomas Cousens, *John Mitchell, John Webber, 

*Benjamin Cousens, *Samuel Shackley, ^Stephen Webber, 

•At the time this vote was passed there were on the west side of the Mousam 
three dwelling-houses on the road to the sea, an uninhabited shanty a few rods 
above the present location of the village bridge and a dwelling-house on the high 
hill where George T. .Jones's house now stands. These estates were not by this 
vote within the limits of the Second Parish, probably owing to the difficulty in 
fixing upon a boundary line satisfactory to both parishes. The occupants of these 
estates and others who came later, between Little River and the Mousam, con- 
sidered themselves as belonging to the Second Parish prior to 1820; but the Hart 
families, dwelling on the southern strip of this territory, never severed their 
connection with the First Parish; all others were assessed by the Second. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 101 

Joseph Cousens, *Stephen Titcomb, Jonathan Webber, 

Samuel Emmons, Joseph Towne, *Joseph Wormwood, 

John Freas, Thomas Towne, *Benjamin Wormwood, 

*John Gillpatrick, *Jesse Towne, *Richard Thompson, 
Samuel Littlefield, John Maddox, 

A church was consecrated March 14, 1751, and the members 
thereof were as marked above (*). Female members were admitted 
later. 

Assuming that each of the petitioners was the head of a family 
and that the average of each family was five persons, the number of 
inhabitants between Little River and Kennebunk River in 1750 was 
one hundred and seventy-five. 

On the sixth day of August, in the same year, the parish was 
partially organized by the choice of clerk and parish committee, and 
on the twenty-fifth of the same month its organization was completed, 
and Daniel Little^ was unanimously invited to become pastor of the 
society. Mr. Little accepted the invitation, and the twenty-seventh 
day of March, 1751, was appointed for his ordination. 

At a town meeting held February 17, 1755, on petition of the 
inhabitants of the Second Parish, "to consider to whom the issues 
and profits of the town ministerial lot belong, whether to the first 
parish or to both parishes," etc., after a short discussion, the whole 
matter was referred to a committee, by whom a report was made to 
the annual meeting held in March as follow^s: "That we are of the 
opinion that the town ought to procure 200 acres of land out of the 
common and undivided lands in the town of Wells, as convenient as 
may be to the said Second Parish, to be by them used, disposed of or 
sold to procure them a parsonage or ministerial lot, they giving a full 
quitclaim of all right to the ministerial land or marsh now in posses- 

' Daniel Little was born in 1723; he was the son of Dea. Daniel Little, who lived 
in what was called the "North Precinct, in Haverhill, Mass." It was supposed 
that the whole of this precinct was within the line of Massachusetts until 1711, 
when the State line was run between Massachusetts and New Hampshire; it was 
then found that more than one-half of it, including Deacon Little's farm, was 
within the New Hampshire line. This part of the precinct and a portion of 
Amestaury, which also fell within the New Hampshire line, were incorporated by 
the Legislature of New Hampshire (1749) with the name of Hampstead. 

Mr. Little was ordained on the twenty-seventh day of March, 1751. Mr. Jef- 
ferds, of the First Parish, preached the sermon. The attendance was very large ; 
the people of the Second Parish were there in full force, the First Parish was 
largely represented and large delegations were present from the neighboring 
towns. As is said to have been the general custom on such occasions in those 
days, a number of tents were erected in the vicinity of the meeting-house, where 
were sold eatables in great variety and where " the ardent " could be obtained in 
any quantity. 



102 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

sion of the First Parish." This recommendation by the committee 
was adopted, and in pursuance thereof the proprietors granted to the 
Second Parish, March 14, 1757, two hundred acres of land. The 
conditions of this grant were not acceptable to the Second Parish, 
inasmuch as they required that the land or the proceeds of its sale 
should be used only "to procure them a parsonage or ministerial 
lot," and several years elapsed before they succeeded in obtaining 
the withdrawal of this objectionable restriction. The grant was laid 
out in May, 1772, on Kennebunk River and bounded by lands of 
Samuel Burnham, Samuel and Israel Kimball and a road leading 
to Coxhall. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HARRISEEKET, THE VILLAGE, CAT MOUSAM AND DAY'S SCHOOL DIS- 
TRICTS. 

If the uptracing of all matters connected with the history or 
literature of the "days of yore" continues to be pursued as dili- 
gently as it is at the present time, it is not impossible that the 
etymology of the name Harriseeket may, in the near or distant 
future, be satisfactorily determined; but we are of the opinion 
that its orthography must be established by " mutual consent of the 
parties interested." 

James Gillpatrick, as elsewhere stated, built the house formerly 
occupied by the late Charles H. P. Storer about 1735. It was orig- 
inally built nearer the river, where it remained a few years. We 
presume it was the first dwelling-house erected on the east side of 
the Branch River,^ in the section known as Harriseeket. Several 
houses, before this date, had been erected on the west side of the 
river, or in West Harriseeket. Nathan Littlefield, one of the former 
proprietors of the first saw-mill built on Kennebunk River, lived 
there as early as 1670. His homestead was only a short distance 
from said river on the south side of the road ; we think other Little- 
field families lived in the immediate vicinity.^ Roger, son of Nathan, 
succeeded his father on the homestead. He married Anna Ricker 

* Usually described in ancient deeds and grants as the "northern branch of 
Little River," although often called the Branch River; from this river that por- 
tion of Wells known as the "Branch" derives its name. The mill-sites, heavy 
growth of pine and other timber, as well as tracts of farming land, found in this 
section, induced immigrants to locate there at an early date. In no part of Wells, 
at this day, are the inhabitants more distinguished for industry, intelligence and 
thriftiness than are those residing at the "Branch." It will be understood that 
the larger part of the Harriseeket settlement on the west side of the river is still 
a part of Wells, while the part on the east side, much smaller territorially and 
considerably less in population. Is in Kennebunk. Whence the name Harriseeket 
or Harryseekit, as sometimes written, we do not know. Several towns in New 
England have a small district within their borders so called ; perhaps some of the 
pioneer settlers here came from a hamlet thus named, giving to their new home 
the title by which their old one was known. 

-There is a graveyard on or near the aforetime Abner Fisk farm, frequently 
called the "Littlefield Burying Ground," where are interred many members of 
families of this name. 

103 



104 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

in 1 77 1 and had two sons, Joseph and Reuben, between whom he 
divided a large tract of land which was owned by him on the north- 
east side of the river, extending from the river to the Sanford road. 
Reuben built a house on the south side of the Branch road near its 
junction with the Harriseeket. Joseph built a house and barn nearly 
opposite on the north side. It is not known what became of the 
first-named house. It was not occupied by the builder ; he was a 
seaman and died unmarried ; the barn was burned when Edward 
Brown's buildings were destroyed by fire on the present Haven 
Kimball farm. The buildings erected by Joseph were torn down a 
few years ago by Alfred, who now owns the farm. 

Joseph Taylor built a house near by about 1700, as did Joseph 
Day, the first with that surname who settled in Wells. Capt. Samuel 
Jefferds erected a house on what was termed "Sandy Hill" about 
the middle of the eighteenth century ; his brother Simon ^ built a 
house on or very near the site of the present homestead of George 
Jefferds before 1760. Samuel, having sold his house on "Sandy 
Hill" to "Cooper Mitchell," by whom it was removed to the San- 
ford road, put up new buildings near the location of "Pike's mill," 
and here kept a " tavern " which v/as in operation about the time of 
the Revolutionary War. It was much frequented and was consid- 
ered an excellent inn. The dwelling-house is now used as a shed. 

The Branch River, although a small stream, afforded a desir- 
able mill site as viewed by the early settlers, which was improved as 
early as 1670. Nathan Littlefield and others built a dam on the 
stream and erected a saw-mill about that date, a few rods below 
the bridge and near where the Gillpatrick house afterward stood. 
When the bridge was built we are unable to say, but we think it 
must have been the first, or among the first, east of Cole's Corner. 
Its location has never been changed, although it has been much 
improved by raising it several feet. We are told that Simon 
Jefferds built a dam and grist-mill on a small fall a short distance 
up stream, but when or how long it stood, or how profitable it 
was, we have no means of ascertaining. The Littlefield's dam and 
mill must have been destroyed before 1688, as we find that William 
Sayer rebuilt the dam that year and was to have erected a fulling 

1 Oapt. Samuel and Oapt. Simon were sons of Rev. Samuel Jefferds, the minis- 
ter of the only church in Wells, Doc, 1725, -Feb., 1752. William Jefferds, the 
very popular landlord of the tavern on "Tavern Hill" in the village, was the son 
of Oapt. Samuel, and was born Jan. 19, 1753. His father, a clothier as well as inn- 
keeper, operated a fulling mill which stood on the falls now improved by Pike. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 105 

mill the same year, but the undertaking was abandoned on account 
of the breaking out of King William's War (1689). 

When mills were in operation here and on Little River, it was 
found to be absolutely necessary that there should be a better way 
to reach the eastern settlements than that by the sea, which was 
available only to those who traveled on foot or on horseback; its 
three ferries and its subjection to the tides rendered it inconvenient, 
if not dangerous. A new path was laid out, commencing at Cole's 
Corner, or the "town's end," running northwesterly over Cole's Hill 
to the falls where Pike's mill now stands, then turning in a northerly 
direction and passing through Harriseeket to the present intersec- 
tion of the Harriseeket with the Sanford road, then turning and 
pursuing a southeasterly course to and across the Mousam to the 
present site of the Unitarian Church, thence, northerly, to and 
across the Kennebunk River, very nearly, throughout, as the road 
now goes. This was, successivel)^ "the path leading to Mousam," 
"the Saco path" and the "upper way." The road from York to 
the eastern settlements was through a part of Kittery (now Berwick), 
Cape Neddock, Ogunquit, Wells Village, the Harriseeket road and 
the before-named way over the Mousam and Kennebunk, thence to 
Saco and Falmouth. This was the great mail route from Ports- 
mouth, N. H., to Falmouth (Portland). Over this road Joseph Bar- 
nard, in January, 1787, drove the first mail and passenger wagon ^ 
(drawn by a span of horses) that had ever met the " astonished gaze " 
of the good people whose doors were passed, who undoubtedly felt 
that the "world is moving," when a turnout like this had succeeded 
to the mail-carrier on horseback, with a pair of saddlebags as the de- 
pository of valuable documents that had been placed in his custody. 

We are unable to state when the "upper road" from Dover to 
South Berwick, to Doughty's Falls (North Berwick), thence through 
Wells, over Maryland Ridge, over the Branch road by Wells's mill, 
past the Branch meeting houses^ to Harriseeket and Kennebunk, first 
became a mail stage route. Joseph Hobbs's tavern, at the Branch, 
was called a stage tavern.*^ We have searched in vain for printed 

^Willis calls It a "passenger wagon." Probably, however, as It was near mid- 
winter, it was a wagon body on runners. 

'^ We give the modern names of these localities, for the reason that they will 
be better understood at the present time. 

5 This building was torn down about 18.80 by'Ivory Goodwin, the present owner 
of the Hobbs homestead, who has erected a dwelling-house and other buildings 
on the opposite side of the i-oad. Hobbs was a blacksmith, an energetic business 
man, was part owner of the iron works near the Mousam Landing, and obtained 
several grants of land on or near the Mousam. He was born 1737, died 1810; he 
married Huldah Littlefleld, November, 1774. 



106 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

or oral testimony that would give us correct information respecting 
these stage routes. We think it improbable that there were daily 
lines of stages from Boston to Portland over both, the "lower," by 
way of Newburyport, Portsmouth and York, and the "upper," by way 
of Haverhill, Exeter, Dover and the Berwicks, prior to 1812 ; an old 
employee of the "Portland and Portsmouth Stage Company" was 
quite sure that, for several years, the stages ran alternately, from 
Portsmouth by way of York, and from Dover by way of Maryland 
Ridge and the Berwicks. We cannot do better than accept this 
explanation in the absence of any other more reliable. It does 
not, however, appear to be quite satisfactory. 

When saw-mills had been erected within the townships of San- 
ford and Shapleigh, and lumber was manufactured in sufficient 
quantities not only to supply the wants of the inhabitants of these 
towns, but to afford a surplus for the market, a portion of this excess 
was drawn over the Harriseeket road to Wells Landing.^ The con- 
nection of important roads with that on which they lived, their mill 
sites, their advantageous position between two thriving villages, and 
the fact that this road was a part of the great highway from Boston 
to Portland and the eastern part of the Province, naturally inspired 
the Harriseeket people with "great expectations" in regard to the 
future growth and prosperity of their vicinage, and not until 1805, 
when the road from Tavern Hill to Cole's Corner, often called the 
Turnpike, v/as completed, were these pleasing anticipations entirely 
relinquished. This new road was strenuously opposed by the Har- 
riseeket and Maryland Ridge residents, and when it had been built 
they criticised pretty sharply the bills for its construction, — "the 
enormous and unnecessary expenditure for a miserable path through 
the heath." For many years the people on the upper route did not 
become fully reconciled to this darkener of their prospects, confess- 
edly infinitely better for the great whole, but, still, "the old road 
was well enough." 

When, in 1755, the Acadians, as they were called (French 
inhabitants of Nova Scotia), were, as a matter of expediency, forci- 
bly removed from their homes by the English, taken to the New 
England Colonies and there scattered among the settlements on the 
Atlantic Coast, six of these expatriated unfortunates were allotted 
to the town of Wells, — a husband, wife and two children, also two 

^ Much the larger part of this surplus was taken to Kennebunk, where there 
was constant demand for every description of lumber, and where, of course, it 
could be disposed of more readily. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 107 

children belonging to another family, probably orphans, connections 
of the first-named family. A house was built for them by the town, 
on the north side of the Branch road, quite near its intersection with 
the Harriseeket road. The lot laid out by the town for the accom- 
modation of these exiles in 1755 was sold to Joseph Gillpatrick, by 
John Wheelwright, in 1781 ; it contained one-half of an acre, twenty 
rods by four, the bounds ''beginning at a stake set in the ground at 
the Heath, ^ so-called, near the crotch of the roads" (on the line of 
a wheel path now leading from the Branch road to the Sanford 
road). There were then no vestiges remaining of the house built 
for the Acadians and the lot was covered with pitch pines. Gillpat- 
rick, who was a grandson of the pioneer James, put up a house and 
other buildings on this lot and lived there until about 1804. He 
advertised the lot and buildings for sale in 1803 and removed not 
long afterward to the northern part of the town. What became of 
the buildings at Harriseeket we do not know; the lot is now again 
covered with pitch pines. Wheelwright also sold to Gillpatrick, in 
1701, two acres near the above-named lot, the bounds "beginning 
at a pitch pine tree on the southeast side of the County road that 
leads to Kennebunk, thence by the road, southwest, thirty rods, 
thence east-southeast," etc. Very little is known concerning the 
subsequent history of these Acadians, but there is no evidence that 
they remained many years in Wells. It has been stated on author- 
ity of a tradition that the father of the family was the ancestor of the 
Mitchells on Sanford road. This statement, it appears, is incorrect.- 

' "Kennebunk Heath," as called in former days, was a wide strip of low land 
commencing at Sanford road, near the guide-post at the junction of the Sanford 
and Harriseeket roads, running southeasterly across the "Turnpike" to "William 
Wormwood's land and to Noah Wells's land." That portion of this tract lying 
on both sides of the Turnpike is appropriately described by these words at this 
day. "Rocky Hill, on Kennebunk Heath," is spoken of in a surveyor's descrip- 
tion of lots of land on the western side of the Turnpike. 

-This family traces its lineage to a man named Mitchell (his christian name 
is not known with certainty, but it is supposed that it was John), who was a 
soldier in the army led by Wolfe at the capture of Quebec in 1759, and was en- 
gaged in that battle. He left the army shortly afterward and settled in York, 
Maine, where he married. He remained in Y'ork several years; he then moved to 
Canada, where he spent the remainder of his days. His son became a resident of 
Ogunquit, in Wells, and was the father of John Mitchell, known as "Oooper 
Mitchell," because of his vocation, and to distinguish him from other Mitchells 
in town with the same christian name. He bought a tract of land near the north- 
ern terminus of the Harriseeket road, and put up a house a few rods west of the 
site of that occupied by Alfred Littlefleld (whose mother was a daughter of 
Mitchell), and a shop near where the dwelling-house recently occupied by E 
Furber Mitchell stands. This house was made up of that of Capt. Samuel Jef- 
ferds, hauled from Sandy Hill, and an addition by its new owner. Oooper John 
had several children, one of whom, James, was a tin-man, who came in posses- 
sion of his fatlier's property, tore down the old house and erected a new one a few 
rods east of the old one about im), which was afterward owned and occupied 
by Alfred Littlefleld. E. V. Mitchell, youngest son of James Mitchell, has a neat 
residence on the site of the before-mentioned shop and holds the principal part 
of his father's estate, which, however, he does not occupy at the present time 



108 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

A short distance below Mitchell's, on the south side of the road 
and perhaps an eighth of a mile therefrom, commences a slight ele- 
vation of land which continues for a distance of one-fourth of a mile 
or more. This has been known for many years as "Nigger Ridge." 
It derives its name from the fact that between the years 1790 and 
1800 about a dozen blacks, who had been held as slaves by citizens 
of Wells, were emancipated, erected huts and became permanent 
residents on this ridge, which had probably been granted to them 
by the town of Wells. Here were Tom and Phillis,^ Sharper ^ and 
Hannah Simon, Primas and the younger Phillis, Salem and Peg, 
Cato, Dinah and others. Probably they obtained a livelihood by 
making and selling baskets and brooms, raising a few vegetables, 
jobbing for persons in the neighboring villages and by successful 
appeals to the benevolent. There are a number of graves on the 
Ridge, indicating that here these servants found their final earthly 
resting places. These little mounds are the only vestiges of this 
settlement. The tract of land formerly inhabited by these manu- 
mitted blacks is now covered with trees and bushes. Thomas Bas- 
sett or "Old Tom," as he was called, was the last survivor of this 
colony. With Phillis, for many years, he was contented and happy, 
but Phillis died and Peg was a widow; the range for the selection 
of another helpmate was narrowed down so that he must lead a life 
of loneliness or take Peg for the partner of his joys and sorrows. 
It is said that after this matrimonial connection he was no longer 
lonely. Peg was a spitfire, noisy and uneasy, and when, a few years 
later, she died, Tom could not but feel that her rest beneath the sod 
secured to him peace and comfort above it. 

" Old Tom " was a quiet, inoffensive person. The birch brooms 
with which he supplied the housewives of his time, in this vicinity, 
were very popular for rough work ; they were somewhat heavy, but 
strongly and neatly made. He was kindly treated by every one. To 
the salutation, "How do you do, Tom?" his invariable answer was, 
"I don' no, sar, een'a'most as well as I can." "How is Phillis?" 
"Well, sar, she tries to do about as well as she can." He was a 
regular attendant at church, and to the best of his ability performed 
his whole duty to God and man. But we must not neglect to record 
the fact that Tom was an artist ; he was the possessor of a fiddle and 
could play half a dozen dancing tunes thereon. His services were 

1 "Negro servants" of Capt. James Littlefleld, married in 1770. 
^Sharper, "Negro servant" to Joseph Hill, and Hannah Simon, an Indian, 
married In 174-1. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 109 

frequently in request at social dances and at huskings; at all the 
old-time General Musters, in "all the region roundabout," he was 
present and always well patronized; young folks from the village 
occasionally visited his hut, and, aided by his artistic efforts, enjoyed 
a regular "breakdown" on the greensward. When his last sickness 
came he was well cared for by a white nurse. It is believed that he 
was fully one hundred years old when he died, June 8, 1831. Rev. 
Mr. Wells attended his funeral ; his remarks on this occasion were 
exceedingly appropriate. The ladies in the neighborhood were 
present, but not men enough to convey his coffin to the grave with- 
out the assistance of Mr. Wells. 

With his decease the race became extinct in this town and, we 
think, there has not been a colored family who remained as perma- 
nent residents since. Richard Hill, a black man, resided on a lot 
opposite the Ridge before the existence of the colony above-named. 
A negro woman, "Chance," had also a cabin very near to Hill's. 
In 1796 Hill petitioned the proprietors for a grant of land and 
obtained a number of acres adjoining and embracing the lot on 
which he had been a squatter. Hill's grant, after his death, came 
into possession of Richard Button,^ an Irishman, a seaman by pro- 
fession, who owned land adjoining on which he had lived with his wife. 
His contemporaries represented the Buttons as queer characters. 
One Michael Burgin,"^ said to have been otherwise than exemplary, 
was a frequent visitor of theirs ; the notorious Henry Tufts, peddler, 
doctor and preacher, was entertained there while visiting in this 
town. His house and barn were a few rods east of the dwelling- 
house now owned by Nathaniel Bragdon, next below the Little place, 
elsewhere noted. He sold his farm to Joseph Thomas, a lawyer, 
who put it in charge of Enoch Bragdon. Although Mr. Bragdon 
performed all his duties well and faithfully, still, after a few years' 

1 The Selectmen of Wells, on the petition of Button, laid out a private way for 
his use, "beginning at the road leading to Kennebunk about thirteen rods N. W. 
of Pvichard Hill's house, thence running northeast eighteen rods through said 
Richard Hill's land to common lands, thence on the same course twenty-seven 
rods to said Button's land. Said road was laid out 2 rods on the N. W. side of 
the line." 

- Michael Burgin was a citizen of Wells before 1796, in which year he was mar- 
ried to Anna Pope. In 1815 he traveled about the country selling an apple 
paring machine, which was patented, and it is understood he claimed to be the 
inventor and patentee. He manufactured them in Wells, it is said. We have 
seen parts of this machine, which in all essential points, fork, knife and wheel, 
appears to be precisely like the paring machines now so extensively used. 
Excepting the knife and fork it was made of wood and consequently was not 
sufficiently strong to bear, for any length of time, the strain to which it was 
subjected. Many of them were sold In this and neighboring towns. 



110 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

experience in amateur farming, Mr. Thomas, about 1830, sold the 
place to Nathaniel Bragdon, son of Enoch. Stephen Thacher, judge 
of probate for a number of years, owned several acres of land on the 
northerly side of the road adjoining Little's land and also several 
acres nearly opposite (on the south side of the road), on which was 
a barn. Mr. Thacher's specialty was merino sheep. Whether it 
was a success financially we have not learned. Thacher removed to 
Lubec, and we think the whole of the Thomas and Thacher land 
came into the possession of Nathaniel Bragdon, son of Nathaniel 
senior. The Button buildings were torn down and new ones were 
put up a few rods westerly, which have been much improved by the 
present owner. There was a small building many years ago south- 
east of the Button land, occupied by John Cousens (grandson of 
Major Nathaniel), and one nearer the village occupied by one Mad- 
dox. Each of these was torn down before 1830. Next below these 
was the two-story house of Nathaniel Mendum, erected between the 
years 1800 and 1803 ; below this, on the north side of the road, was 
the Bimon Gillpatrick house, built about the same time as the Men- 
dum house, owned later by Asa Clark and George W. I^arrabee ; 
near to that was the John Low house, built before 1800, owned and 
occupied by the Rev. Joshua A. Swan.^ Near the bridge, on the 
lot occupied by a boarding-house, stood Edmund Lord's blacksmith 
shop. The George Jefferds store was moved across the street in 
1827. This forms, we think, a correct list of houses standing, or 
that had been built, occupied and afterward demolished, on the 
Sanford road from its junction with the Harriseeket road down to 
the Mousam bridge, up to the year 1820. The Sanford road, in 
18 1 2, is referred to by the selectmen of Wells, in an official docu- 
ment, as the "post road to Berwick," while that leading to Wells 
was called "the post road to York," On this highway, at the east- 
erly end of " Nigger Ridge," were two houses, one of which was 
occupied by Jacob Blaisdell and the other by a Widow Wilson.^ 
There was also a house in that vicinity, nearer the village, occupied 
by John Norman, a stone mason. All of these houses, however, have 
disappeared. Then followed, on the north side of the road, the house 
owned by Baniel Burrell, which has stood many years; we do not know 
by whom it was built, but the owner for a long time was Capt. John 

1 Afterward given as a parsonage to the Unitarian Societj' by bis widow. 

- Her husband was a seaman. "Wilson and Noble were partners in some land 
purchases. The family is extinct in this town. Benjamin Wilson married Han- 
nah Fernald, July, 1788. Hosea Wilson married Betsey Fernald, October, 1789. 
Nathaniel Oousens, Jr., married Eunice Wilson, 1789. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. Ill 

Hovey; it has been occupied by George Perkins and Adoniram 
Handson. Next came the large dwelling-house built by George W. 
Wallingford, about 1810, now owned and occupied by William E. 
Barry; next to this was the blacksmith shop, long since torn down or 
removed, which was formerly occupied by Nathaniel Mendum, agent 
of the Portland and Portsmouth Stage Company, and afterward by 
other persons ; then came the old Gillpatrick blacksmith shop, a part 
of which was the shop belonging to the iron works built on the lower 
dam in 1776. When business was relinquished there one-half of the 
shop was torn down and the other half removed (1820) to Tavern Hill, 
additions made, and it was operated by Dimon Gillpatrick (son of 
Richard) and his sons, Richard and Daniel, until about 1877.^ It 
was torn down in 1887. This brings us to Tavern Hill, and we have 
learned what buildings had been erected, moved or torn down and 
were still standing on the road in 1820. On Tavern Hill, at the above- 
named date, was Jefferds's Tavern, of which we have previously 
spoken, and adjoining the driveway on its south side was the dwell- 
ing of Nathaniel Jefferds, son of Major William. This estate now 
belongs to the heirs of Samuel Clark. Nathaniel Jefferds married 
Mary Folsom, of Exeter, N. H., 1801. As early as 1774, very soon 
after the bridge had been moved up stream to near its present loca- 
tion, Richard Gillpatrick, who had served his apprenticeship to James 
Kimball, put up a blacksmith shop on the spot which is now the com- 
mencement of Brown Street, facing the north ; a year later, in the rear 
of this, facing the river street or the old post road, he built a small 
dwelling-house, and about two years later still disposed of his black- 
smith business to Dominicus Lord and put up a small store near the 
shop, where he kept for sale a stock of groceries. These buildings 
were removed during the last decade of the eighteenth century and 
a large dwelling-house was erected by Mr. Gillpatrick midway 
between the river street and Nathaniel Jefferds's house, which was 

^Frequent mention has been made in the history of Wells and Kennebunk of 
the "Ooburn house," but no such house is named as standing in 1750 or later. The 
timber house is doubtless the one referred to. This stood on the lot known in 
late years as the "Factory Field," as Oousens moved therefrom and into his new- 
house on the west side of the river in 1758, and Ooburn came here about that time. 
Ooburn was married to Mrs. Esther Rollins, of AVells, September 25, 1750, by Rev* 
Mr. .Jefferds. It appears that he either lost or neglected to obtain a certificate of 
his marriage, and after the death of the officiating clergyman, in 1758, it was 
thought necessary to procure a certificate from the persons present at the cere- 
mony. This was sworn to and recorded on the town records. Ooburn M'as one of 
the petitioners for calling a meeting of the second parish, to take into considera- 
tion the expediency of building a new meeting-house on the county road (1771) ; 
but in 1773 when the pews were assigned his name does not occur. He had either 
left town or hired seats of Joseph Storer. 



112 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

occupied by him many years. After the purchase of this property 
by the manufacturing company, Brown Street was laid out through 
Gillpatrick's field, rendering it necessary to move the house back 
several feet and facing the new street ; here it was long known as 
the "old boarding-house." It was destroyed by fire in December, 
1884. 

We think there is no record or tradition which will enable us 
precisely to fix the date when the village bridge was first located 
near its present position. (In speaking of this bridge and of the 
buildings in close proximity to it, it must be remembered that when 
the bridge was rebuilt in 1832 it was moved up stream seventeen 
feet ; that is, a band was taken from the southerly end of the old 
saw-mill and transferred to its northerly end, equivalent to its 
removal seventeen feet up stream.) The chief testimony we have 
bearing on this question is contained in the following extracts from 
conveyances by Joel Larrabee to William Jefferds, in 1804. Larra- 
bee bought of the heirs of Samuel Wheelwright eleven acres of a 
grant of one hundred and fifty acres made by the town to their 
father in 1778. Under this grant Larrabee conveyed to Jefferds 
one acre of land which was laid out as follows: "beginning on the 
southwest side of Mousam River, at the brink or edge of said river, 
where the southwest abutment of the former bridge stood, near to 
the east end of the said Jefferds's old shop, thence running two rods 
to the old road, then by said road on the northeast side thereof N. 
W. ten rods, then N. E. to said river and falls five rods, one hundred 
square rods of land and falls." 

Larrabee also conveyed to Jefferds, under same grant, two and 
one-sixteenth acres of land, which were laid out as follows: "begin- 
ning at the easterly side of Mousam River, at the easterly end of 
the old Iron Works dam and on the westerly side of the highway 
running down by said river; thence running N. E. and N. W by 
said highway sixt3'-six rods to the new bridge." 

These extracts conclusively establish the fact that the road on 
the west side of the river leading from the present main street to the 
lot on which Ferguson's machine shops stood is a "county road," 
and was for many years, as far down as the lower dam, a part of the 
public highway leading from York to Saco. In a bond for a deed — 
Nathaniel Jefferds to James K. Remich— made on the last day of 
March, 1825, by which Jefferds agreed to convey to said Remich all 
his right and interest in mill privileges on the Mousam River, in the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 113 

village of Kennebunk, including also one-half of the factory field 
on the east side of said river, this sentence occurs: "excepting any 
rights of road over either of the above-described premises." This 
bond was written by the late Edward E. Bourne. No exception of 
this kind is made in a bond of the same date — Edmund Pearson to 
James K. Remich — by which Pearson agreed to convey to said 
Remich all his right and interest in the old grist-mill and tannery 
(at the western end of the lower dam) and the water power and land 
appertaining thereto.^ 

Now returning to the bridge, we are of the opinion that, in 
1779, it was not at or near its present location. "In 1763 there 
was laid out for John Storer (under grant to Joseph Storer, 1714) 
ten acres of meadow on the western side of Mousam River, at the 
bridge over said river and adjoining the highway, running southeast 
by the river forty-eight rods," etc. etc. The description leaves no 
room for doubt that these ten acres embrace the sites of the old 
machine shops and also the low land bordering on the river below 
them. This meadow, in whole or in part, was sold to William 
Jefferds and Richard Gillpatrick about 1774 or 1775. If the bridge 
had been built in 1759, it may safely be assumed that it would not 
have been located so far down stream, and that the inconvenient 
and unsightly deflection, rendered necessary by the original position 
of the mill, would have been avoided.^ There is good reason to 
believe that the bridge was removed to near its present position 
during the years 1771 and 1772,'' before the lower dam and Gillpat- 
rick's iron works were erected, and that Storer, for his own conven- 
ience (and perhaps as an inducement for the change of location) 
opened a way from the new bridge to the county road, intersecting 
the road near Scotchman's Brook, at the same time occupying as a 
mill yard a good portion of that part of the county road rendered 
unessential by his action in laying out a new way. The bridge was 
repaired, recovered, etc., in 1801 ; in 1832 it was rebuilt at a cost of 
twenty-four hundred dollars;^ in 1864 it was repaired, recovered, 

'These lands, with others bj' Joseph Storer arid Kiehard Gillpat rick, were 
transferred by Remich to a company afterward incorporated as the "Mousam 
Manufacturing Company. " 

^This deflection was materially improved in ]S;;l> and lcsse]ied still more in 
1S82. 

'There Is no evidence extant that the road to the bridw (on the west side of 
the river) and across the river to the old road on its eastern side was ever 
discontinued. 

* A part. If not the whole, of this sum was borrowed by the town for four and 
a half per cent, per annum. 



114 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

etc., at a cost of eight hundred six dollars and thirteen cents ; in 
1882 it was rebuilt as an iron bridge and the position slightly 
changed. 

The grist-mill which was built in 1759 was burned down a few 
years subsequently. When this was rebuilt is not known, but the 
site selected leads to the supposition that it was after the removal of 
the bridge (1772-1775). 

The first building to be seen by one going down the river street 
in 1820 was a store, quite near the bridge, built by Major Jefferds for 
his son George, who traded there until 18 14, when he became land- 
lord of the Jefferds House. He was succeeded by Samuel Ross, who 
improved the first floor as a store and the upper floor as a dwelling- 
house until about 1827, when the building was removed by the 
Manufacturing Company to the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, 
where it now stands; next to this was Nathaniel Jefiferds's cloth- 
dressing establishment ("No. 2 Water Street," as he designated it). 
The factory on the west side of the river covers the sites of these 
buildings. Then, lower down, in close proximity to the lower dam, 
were to be seen remains of the old bridge, of Gillpatrick's iron 
works and Maj. William Jefferds's cloth-dressing shop. This was 
the first bridge built over the Mousam ; the iron works and clothier's 
shop covered its abutment on the west side of the river; then, per- 
haps a rod below, was the "new grist-mill," built and furnished, in 
part, with the materials and machinery that belonged to the grist- 
mill which stood on what had been known for years as the "island," 
but which has now been connected with the mainland by the 
Leather Board Company. This company utilized the island by 
erecting upon it buildings necessary for the prosecution of their 
business; then came an extensive tannery, built by Edmund Pearson 
in 181 1, which he occupied until he sold his establishment to the 
Manufacturing Company; the bark house afterward formed the 
main part of J. H. Ferguson's machine shop, planing mill, etc. 

Returning, we go along the "old path" and the only traveled 
road from east to west for a century, until about 1780, and we find 
the house of Dominicus Lord, near the site of the dwelling-house 
of Rev. Mr. Worth; a short distance beyond, the house of Joseph 
Thomas, now in possession of the heir to George Mendum's estate. 
Between the years 1788 and 1790 this house was framed and boarded 
by Nathaniel Cousens, Jr., son of Major Nathaniel ; it was after- 
ward purchased and finished by Mr. Thomas, who resided there 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 115 

until his death (in 1830, at the age of 67); a few rods above this 
was Dr. Emerson's house, which was built between 1795 and 1800. 
It was his homestead until his death, in 185 1 (at the age of 86 years).^ 
It was for many years the homestead of Joseph Parsons, by whose 
heirs it is now occupied. This brings us to the Nathaniel Cousens 
house, already noticed, and also near the point where travelers, in 
days of yore, when there were no mill ponds on the Mousam, used 
to turn down to the fording place across the river, in later days 
(until 1669) known as the "upper wading place." 

There was not a long interval of time between the opening of 
Major Jefferds's house as a tavern (1790-92) and the building of the 
several houses for Low, Mendum and Gillpatrick; before the com- 
pletion of the latter house it was apparent that a straight road was 
needed from the bridge to Mendum's house, where it would inter- 
sect the Sanford road. The land necessary for this purpose was at 
once thrown out by the abutters, and it became a traveled road 
before it was officially laid out, — if, indeed, it was ever laid out 
officially, except as a part of the road from the bridge to Gould's 
Causeway, or "Causey" as it was generally called. 

In 1796 the road from the bridge by Jefferds's Tavern, and 
thence west and southwest to the sea road, and thence to Henry 
Hart's land and by the "Great Swamp," so-called, to "Gould's 
Causey," was laid out on the petition of William Wormwood and 
others, and seven years later the road from Cole's Corner to Tavern 
Hill greatly improved the facilities for travel to Wells and beyond. 
We believe the "post road to York" and the "post road to Berwick" 
have not been materially changed, between the Mousam and Little 
Rivers, since the last-named date. 

Retracing our steps to the vicinity of the western boundary of 
the town, we find northwesterly from Harriseeket the " Day Dis- 
trict" (school district No. 12), the pioneer settler of which was a 
son or grandson of Joseph Day, who settled at Harriseeket in 1720. 
Adjoining Day's, northerly, is the Cat Mousam District, the east- 
erly part of which, bounded by the Mousam, was the first settled. 
Benjamin Stevens, son of Moses, Sr.,'^ as early as 1745 put up a 

' Dr. Emerson came to this town in 1790 and was miarrled to Olive Barrell, of 
York, in 1791. He had an excellent reputation as a physician, and an extensive 
practice while able to perform the labor incident to an active member of his 
profession. 

^ Moses Stevens, It is believed, was the first person with this surname who 
became a permanent resident of Wells, but we are unable to say at what date he 
took up his abode there or where he had lived previously. He is named as one of 



116 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

dwelling-house on the estate now held by the heirs of Orlow Stevens. 
He bought of John Wheelwright part of one hundred and fifty acres 
which the town granted to the heirs of Samuel Wheelwright. He 
bought of Mrs. Bulman, of York, guardian, January, 1748, one-eighth 
part of a certain saw-mill now standing on the river Mousam in Wells, 
with one-eighth of all privileges, which her husband, Dr. Alexander 
Bulman, bought of one Gooch, of said Wells. Next came the house 
of Joseph Taylor, on the estate now held by George T. Jones, nearly 
equidistant from Cat Mousam Mills and the village bridge ; he built 
on his grant about the same time that Stevens put up buildings on 
his lot as above stated. About 1755 John Cousens,^ son of Ichabod, 
occupied the estate afterward held by Ephraim Allen and heirs of 
Obediah Hatch. In 1783 Moses Littlefield, son of Samuel, moved 
from the farm (later owned by John Walker) in Lower Alewive to Cat 
Mousam, and built a one-story house near the road, a short distance 
northeast of the house where Samuel Littlefield, grandson of Moses, 
now lives. This was built by Moses and his son Aaron in 1806, 
first occupied by them in 1807, and the old house was moved and 
made an outbuilding. The western part of the district, known as 
the "Webber District,'' was settled later, in the beginning of the 
nineteenth century. 

The road leading from the Sanford road, a few rods beyond its 
junction with the Harriseeket, to the Middle or Cat Mousam Mill, 
across the river, and thence to the county road, was laid out in 1761. 
Not long afterward Obediah Hatch put up a house about half a mile 
from the Sanfoid road, where he lived several years, afterward tear- 

the proprietors of all the c-ommoii lands in AVoUs in 1710. Moses was pi-obably a 
brother to John, who was in Arundel in 17:iO. Biadbury says he had three sons, 
Moses, Benjamin and Jeremiah. Moses married Lucy Wheelwright. They were, 
in 1758, in possession of their rights in the common lands of Wells, which they sold 
to their nephew Benjamin. Benjamin, son of John, "married Abigail Littlefield 
and lived in Wells." We know nothing concerning his after life. '"Jeremiah 
married and lived in Wells." We find that "Jeremiah Stevens of Wells, yeoman, 
leasedof the executors of the will of John Hill, one-half of the Mansion house 
formerly occupied by said Hill, together with one hundred acres of land and one- 
half of a saw-mill at Maryland, belonging to his estate, for four years from the 
fifteenth day of November, 1750," paying therefor an annual rent of about 
fifty dollars. 

Benjamin, of Mousam, is designated as a " trader " in Mrs. Bulman's bond for 
a deed, before referred to. He married Mary Raven in 1735. He bought of John 
Mitchell, in 17.56, ten acres of land, beginning at a heap of stones in Mitchell's 
line, forty rods from Mitchell's first bound, on Mousam river, then northwest 
forty rods, etc. The common rights, purchased of Moses and Lucy in 17.58, were 
laid out in 1772, "beginning at Mousam river, at the northerly corner of Samuel 
Mitchell's land and running S. S. W. by his land, near to Rankin's creek, on road 
leading to Sanford, second Mousam mill lot," etc. 

1 John Oousens married Sarah Davis, 1779. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 117 

ing this down and building a larger house a few rods north of it. 
He appears to have been much respected in his neighborhood and 
in the parish and was one of the deacons of the Second Parish many 
years. He was born April 5, 1730, married Jerusha Davis, of Wells, 
in 1757, and had six children, John C, Daniel, Obediah, Rhoda, Mary 
and Abigail. Deacon Hatch died November 23, 1819, aged 89 years. 
John C. remained on the homestead until his death by drowning in 
crossing the Mousam. Daniel built a house nearly opposite his 
father's, near the site of that now owned by James B. Whitten. The 
paternal mansion was burned many years ago and Daniel's house was 
removed, but the sites can be verified by the cellars and scattering 
apple trees. Two of the daughters, unmarried, reached the advanced 
ages of ninety-four and one hundred. When young, they used to 
attend Parson Little's meeting at the Landing, walking the entire 
distance and nearly the whole way through a forest-lined road, not 
excepting that portion of it which passed through the main village 
of to-day. 

Besides the three houses above named and the house put up 
by Joel Stevens about 1774, still standing a short distance north of 
Whitten's, we have no record that any other was ever built on this road. 
The first two have long since been demolished. Stevens's house re- 
mains in possession of his descendants. Daniel Hatch's, we think, 
was taken down and another built on or near its site. The land ad- 
joining the southern part of this road we presume is too sandy for 
profitable farming. Still the road is a much needed one and when 
in good repair makes a very pleasant drive. One would hardly be- 
lieve, from present appearances, that it was laid out three rods wide. 

We have given the names of the first permanent settlers in the 
Cat Mousam District, according to the best information we can 
obtain, but there must have been temporary residents, we think, at 
an earlier day. During the twenty years from 1736 to 1756 there 
was a saw-mill in operation the larger part of the time, and it is fair 
to presume that the men employed in and about the mill erected 
shanties for their own accommodation and for the protection of their 
cattle; but in support of this rational supposition we find no satis- 
factory evidence. That men worked there a good portion of the time 
during these twenty years, we know, but whether with or without 
families, whether their homes were near their place of employment 
or at an inconvenient distance therefrom, we are left to conjecture. 
The district made very fair progress in population after the close of 



118 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the Revolutionary War. A few houses, in addition to those we 
have mentioned, were built on the Cat Mousam road between 1760 
and 1785. 

Thomas Wormwood built a house and outbuildings on the 
northern side of Rankin's Brook, on the west side of the road; the 
buildings were removed long ago and the homestead acres, after 
having had several proprietors, have recently come into possession 
of Benjamin J. Hill. The Philip Hatch house was erected about 
1794, in which year he married Mary Butland. 

The dwelling-house long known as the Major Cousens house, 
built in 1758, and a barn and shed belonging thereto were, in 1775, 
the only buildings on the west side of the Mousam within the present 
limits of the village in that direction. On April 19, 1775, — the day 
so memorable in our national history, — the late Dominicus Lord, 
who had purchased the lot now known as Tavern Hill, commenced 
the work of clearing it, — felling trees, drawing logs to the mill, 
cutting and piling wood, etc. It was on the same day that the fine 
elms in front of the houses occupied by Nathan Dane and Mrs. 
Hilton were set out, and it was an old-time story that they were 
taken up on Tavern Hill and transplanted in the places they now 
occupy.^ Mr. Lord moved very slowly; the outlook was discourag- 
ing, and he had neither the courage nor the pecuniary ability to 
urge the progress of his undertaking. In 1784, however, the site 
had been prepared and a neat and comfortable one-story dwelling 
erected thereon. This building to-day occupies the same spot as 
when completed, but it has been much added to, and now forms a 
part of the lower story of the main building of the Mousam House 
(hotel). Mr. Lord married Mary, daughter of Edmund Currier, in 
the summer of 1784. Three of his children, viz.: Mary, who mar- 
ried Mark Dresser; Susanna, who married Elisha Chadburn, 1807, 
and Lydia, who died in 1884 at the advanced age of ninety-six years 
and six months, were born in this house. 

After residing there for a few years Mr. Lord sold the estate to 
William Jefferds, by whom it was at once opened as a public house, 

' The descendants of Daniel Shackley, Sr., say that there is a tradition in their 
family that these trees were taken from Mr. Shackley 's farm (beyond the Larra- 
bee place), on Kennebunk River, and were set out as above by Mr. Shackley, 
James Kimball and Theodore Lyman. We know not why full credit should not 
be given to this tradition, so far, at least, as regards the three standing in front of 
Mr. Dane's lot; there is another tradition, apparently equally as well entitled to 
credit as the foregoing, that the two trees before Mrs. Hilton's lot were taken 
from Tavern Hill and set out where they are now standing by the same persons 
and on the same day. It is not a matter of great importance. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 119 

which was remarkably well managed and soon acquired so much 
patronage and popularity as to render necessary an addition of a 
story to the main building and of a long ell for a kitchen and other 
needed apartments. Increasing patronage from augmented travel, 
owing to growth of the New England States in population and busi- 
ness prosperity, in a few years demanded that a third story be added 
to the main building and a second story to the ell, which was used 
as a hall. 

Mr. Josiah Paine, ^ of Portland, was the first to employ stage- 
coaches for conveyance of mails and passengers between Portland 
and Portsmouth. This was in 1810. The pa.ssage from Portland 
to Boston was made in "two days only." The first lines of stages 
between Portland and Portsmouth and Portsmouth and Boston 
proved to be a successful venture and the proprietors soon found it 
necessary to enlarge their operations ; to do this required more cap- 
ital than they could command individually; to meet this requisite a 
stock company was formed in each division as early as 1820. In 
1824 the Portland and Portsmouth Company was incorporated by 
the Legislature of Maine as the "Portland Stage Company," with a 
capital of forty thousand dollars, which in 1828 was increased to 
fifty thousand dollars. "Jefferds's Tavern" was also a "Stage 
House," and being midway between their terminals the stage lines 
were important auxiliaries to its prosperity. The time-tables of the 
"accommodation stages" were necessarily so arranged that they 
met here about noon, and the passengers always found the dining 
room well provided with substantials as well as delicacies in the 
way of food. The hours of arrival and departure of the mail stage 
were not so regular, as these were governed by instructions from 
the Post Office Department. Twice each secular day, both from 
east and west, coaches drawn by four horses rolled along the streets 
of the village, oftentimes followed by one, two, and occasionally even 
three extras, all loaded to the utmost capacity of the vehicle. For 
many years the approach of the stage was heralded by thrilling and 
prolonged blasts from the driver's huge tin horn ; this practice was 
abandoned prior to 1820, first by the accommodation stage and not 
long after by the mail. Carle and Rogers were among the well-known 
and favorite occupants of the driver's seat on the mail line, while the 
familiar faces of the "accommodation" drivers, among whom were 

'Joslah Paine died in Portland in 1825. He had been a mail contractor for 
about thirty years, and during that time he had been constantly improving and 
enlarging the mail routes in Maine. 



120 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

"Clem," "George," "Robert" and "Henry," were always greeted 
with smiling countenances as the drivers passed along, occasionally 
"touching up the leaders." In those days, before express compa- 
nies were known, the stage coachman was an important personage, 
on whom the public greatly depended for the transmission of money 
and parcels of all kinds. Some of these parcels required that the 
bearers should be made confidential agents and entrusted with 
secrets of consequence to individuals. 

There have been many interesting occurrences in " Jeflerds's 
Hall." Here the illustrious Lafayette dined, with his son and secre- 
tary, while he was our nation's honored guest, in 1825 ; here have 
been "Fourth of July Dinners," with their customary accompani- 
ments of speech and toast and song; here have been notable politi- 
cal gatherings, in which notable public men were participants ; here 
town meetings have been held ; here have been justices' court trials; 
here the "Fire Society" and other societies have sat down to excel- 
lent suppers, here the itinerant lecturer and showman have given 
exhibitions, scientific, literary and magical, and here have been hila- 
rious parties, seldom afterward referred to, "soon lost to memory." 

Between the years 1770 and 1777 Rev. Daniel Little bought a 
lot of land of Daniel Clark and smaller lots of other persons, and 
adjoining these, in 1778, he laid out forty-three acres of commons 
under a grant to him by the town, which together made up the farm 
on the Sanford road first known as the " Parson Little farm," then 
as the "Piper place" and afterward the "Paul Stevens farm." It 
is now owned by George T. Jones. Mr. Little devised this place to 
his daughter, Sarah, who married Rev. Asa Piper, the first settled 
minister in Wakefield, N. H., where he continued to preach for 
many years, and where his old homestead is still in possession of his 
descendants. Mr. Little's special reasons for leaving his home at 
the Landing and building and occupying the Sanford road house, 
about 1790, were never definitely known. In answer to an inquiry 
respecting his motives for this change, his granddaughter (the late 
Mrs. Scott, of Flushing, Long Island, N. Y.,) stated that she thought 
there was no other reason than that of his perfect infatuation with 
the location. Rankin's Brook runs between the house and the road, 
and on the bank of this he erected a summer house wherein he was 
accustomed to read and write during the warm season, and which 
he always spoke of as his "dear little box." He spent his declining 
years on this place very happily. Between the date of his death 
(October, 1801,) and the purchase of the farm by Stevens, it was 
occupied' by Judge Stephen Thacher, Isaac C. Pray (of the firm of 
Wataston, Pray & Co.) and others. Piper never lived there. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE PROSPERITY OF KENNEBUNK DATING FROM 1750 GRANTS OF 

LAND IN ALEWIVE ROSS ROAD HART's BEACH ROAD- — THE 

VILLAGE BRIDGE AND ROAD THEREFROM THE MILL YARD AND 

TRIANGLE. 

Kennebunk, as the Second Parish in Wells, was now (1750) 
slowly increasing in population and gradually attaining prominence 
as a business center, which gave promise of a prosperous future. 
The "road by the sea," which led from Cole's Corner, seaward, to 
Little River, by ferry across Little and Mousam Rivers to Hart's 
Beach and the foot of Great Hill, around Gillespie's Point, following 
Boothby's, the "Gravel" (or "second sands") and Gooch's Beaches 
and, by ferry across Kennebunk River, thence by the seashore to 
Cape Porpoise, Winter Harbor and farther east, was a thing of the 
past.^ A road had been established and made comfortably passable, 
commencing at Cole's Corner (where it connected with the "king's 
highway " through York, Berwick, Ogunquit and Wells to this Cor- 
ner), running thence over Cole's Hill to what is Pike's mill on Little 
River, across the river, through Harriseeket to the Sanford road. 
From there it ran to the western part of the village, along by the river 
where is now Pleasant Street and the street leading to the machine 
shops (destroyed by fire in 1889) nearly to the lower dam, across the 
bridge to the highway leading from Mousam landing place to Cox- 
hall, up this road to what is Garden Street, thence through the 
woods, chiefly to the Kimball neighborhood and Kennebunk River 
at Littlefield's mills; this route for many years was known as the 
"Sacopath." Another road commenced eighty rods above these 
mills and ran down by the river to the "common flowing of the 
salt water" (of which way no vestige remains), thence to John 
Mitchell's, near the mouth of the river, and then to the sea, very 
nearly the same route as that traveled at the present time by way of 
"Falls Creek" or Towne's Bridge; there was also a road from 

1 This seashore route from Wells to Portland was not entirely abandoned, here 
or elsewliere, until after the Indian wars were over (176<t). There were times, un- 
doubtedly, during the continuance of these wars when travelers could pass over 
this route more safely and expeditiously than by the "upper way" or "Saco path." 

121 



12"2 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Boothby's Beach to the lot known as " Susa Butland's lot," thence as 
the cross road runs to the county road (near the " Brookins house ") 
at the Landing. Before the last-named road had been made passable, 
persons living at or near the Larrabee hamlet had a beaten path to 
Mousani Mills, from Larrabee's across "Wise's pasture," through 
the "Factory woods" and " Remich's woods," across Clay Hill, and 
thence "across lots" to the mills. Clay Hill, formerly known as 
Barnard's pasture, but now owned by several persons, for a long 
time furnished material for bricks made on the contiguous brick- 
yard. The author, when about twelve years of age, walked over 
the upper portion of this path in company with the late Joseph 
Storer, and was told by him that for a number of years there was 
a rough bridge of logs across the narrow ravine between Clay Hill 
and the high land just opposite, wide enough for oxen and cart, 
which bridge formed a part of the pathway from Larrabee's to the 
Mills. Storer pointed to two or three decaying logs lying near by, 
which he said were all that remained of this structure built by the 
earliest settlers.^ 

These established roads and beaten paths, together with the 
many passable ways that led from house to house and from 
hamlet to hamlet, afforded very fair facilities for travel and for busi- 
ness requirements, and these facilities were shortly afterward mate- 
rially increased in consequence of an order of Court (1753) "that 
the towns of Wells, Cape Porpoise and Saco shall make sufficient 
highways in their respective towns from house to house, clear and 
fit for foot and cart." 

From 1750 to 1760 was a period of marked prosperity in the 
new parish. Farming land was especially sought for and many lots 

• There is a legend connected with this bridge: — While passing over it, home- 
ward bound, one afternoon in summer, with steers, cart and a small load of lum- 
ber, Sergeant Larrabee espied a dozen or more Indians lying in ambush in the 
adjacent valley. He hurried the steers forward, with the view of reaching high 
land before his foes could " head him off." This purpose was accomplished, and 
when the Indians gained the top of the hill he was in advance of them on the 
path. He detached his steers from the cart, feeling assured that when set at lib- 
erty they would direct their steps toward the garrison and reach there in safety. 
He then faced his pursuers and pointed his gun at the foremost, in this manner 
slowly walking backward on the way to his home. The Indians followed, but 
dared not fire a musket nor rush upon him, no one of them being ambitious to be 
the one who would surely be shot by the Sergeant if there was the slightest 
movement indicating that either of these measures had been resolved upon. He 
reached the garrison without harm and his enemies retired from the field. The 
next morning cart and lumber were found undisturbed. This method of thwart- 
ing hostile intentions of the Indians, facing them with a loaded musket and walk- 
ing backward, was frequently and successfully resorted to by whites during the 
Indian wars. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 123 

were purchased for improvement as farms by industrious and ener- 
getic men, who at once entered upon the work of clearing and culti- 
vating their newly acquired acres and erecting dwelling-houses and 
barns thereon. In all parts of our territory there were proofs of 
sagacious management and of business prosperity. Attention at 
this time was particularly directed to that section of the town now 
known as the Alewives and its vicinity. Adam Ross/ supposed to 
have been the first settler in this district, owned land and had prob- 
ably built a house there prior to 1760. Caleb Littlefield & Co. now 
found a ready sale for a considerable portion of their grant of six 
hundred acres of upland and sixty of marsh (17 14), of which only 
ten acres had been previously disposed of. Fifty acres of this grant 
were sold to Samuel Waterhouse, May 19, 1752, bounds "beginning 
at a marked tree, thence running N. W. by W., then S. S. W., then 
S. S. E. to a marked tree." This lot, with the buildings thereon, 
has been the homestead of Waterhouse and his descendants until 
within a few years. 

June 30, 1753, fifty acres of the above-named grant were laid 
out on the north side of Alewive Brook for James Smith, who came 
from York. This lot, with the buildings thereon, which were 
erected shortly after its purchase, was the homestead of Smith dur- 
ing the remainder of his life, as well as the lifelong home of his son 
Nathaniel, and of his son James, and is now the residence of the 
widow and daughter Ellen of the last-named James. 

The same day and under the same grant sixty acres were laid 
out for Benjamin Day, beginning at James Smith's westerly corner 
bounds and also bounded by the east corner of William Waterhouse's 
lot. Day was the son of Joseph, who bought land on the north 
branch of Little River in 1720, which he exchanged for an adjoining 
lot in 1728, whereon he erected the usual farm buildings of the time. 
He had probably been a resident of Wells several years prior to 
1720 and was undoubtedly the ancestor of all the Day families in 
town.- The Benjamin who purchased the lot above named, in 1753, 
and erected buildings thereon was, doubtless, the son of Joseph and 
Patience, and we conjecture was the father of the Benjamin who 
owned and occupied the farm for many years. He sold it to Heber 
Gowen in 1829. Gowen tore down the old buildings and erected 

'Adam Ross niai-iled Hannali Taylor in 1760. 

"We do not know when nor to whom he was married. The records give the 
names of the children of Joseph and Patience Day as follow: Sarah, born in 1717; 
Joseph, 1719; Benjamin, \T2^; Mary, 1725; Priscllla, 1727; Hilton, 1729; William. 
1731, and Elizabeth. 1733. 



124 HISTORY OF KENNEBUXK. 

Others, neat and commodious, in 1830. Gowen sold to David Tux- 
bury in 1847; Tuxbury to Josiah Hill in 1848; Hill to James and 
Charles Smith in 1852, and James his half-part to Charles the same 
year. It is still in possession of the last-named. 

Fifty acres of Caleb Littlefield & Co.'s grant were laid out for 
William Waterhouse, of Arundel,^ June 30, 1753, bounds beginning 
on north side of Alewive Brook, at Benjamin Day's westerly corner. 

Under same grant and on the same day forty acres were laid 
out for Samuel Littlefield, Jr., bounds beginning at James Smith's 
easterly corner. Littlefield erected buildings on this lot. He mar- 
ried Susanna Bellamy in 1749. He sold this farm to John Walker 
in 1783, in whose possession and that of his son John it remained 
about eighty years. The farm is now owned by Joshua Russell. 

Before selling his Alewive farm to Walker, Littlefield had pur- 
chased a tract of land at Cat Mousam and soon after erected a 
dwelling-house thereon ; this was quite near the highway. A few 
years later he built the house farther from the road, afterward occu- 
pied by Samuel Littlefield, grandson of the Samuel, Jr., above 
named. This estate has been in possession of the family more 
than a hundred years. 

Deacon Stephen Larrabee bought of Caleb Littlefield &: Co., 
June 30, 1753, fifty acres "on the southeasterly side of Kennebunk 
River." The precise date when Deacon Larrabee completed and 
first occupied the dwelling erected by him on this lot is not known, 
probably, however, as early as 1755. He resided here the remain- 
der of his life, and after his decease it was occupied many years by 
his descendants. Collins Emmons is the present owner and occu- 
pant of this property, which has been greatly improved through his 
judicious management. 

Under the before-named grant, fifty-four acres (in addition to 
those before mentioned) were laid out for Samuel Littlefield, Jr., 
bounds beginning at Deacon Larrabee's westerly corner. Littlefield 
sold this lot to Col. John Taylor, who erected buildings thereon, 
and by him and his heirs it was occupied many years. Taylor's 
heirs sold the estate to Seth Emmons, who tore down the old build- 
ings and erected the large dwelling-house now standing very nearly 
on the site of the old. The property is held by Seth T., son of Seth, 

^Bradbury says " Waterhouse, William, was employed to keep school [in 
Arundel] in 1745. He was residing here in 1764. Samuel, probably a brother to 
William, married Mary Wbitten, Aug. 16, 1750." Some of their descendants still 
reside in this town. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 125 

Sr. He has much improved the estate by the addition of barns and 
other outbuildings. His son, Frank A., is the owner of the excellent 
greenhouses situated opposite his father's residence. 

Same year and under grant above named laid out for Anthony 
Littlefield fifty acres, the Middle Mill town grant, bounds beginning 
on "S. W. side of Mousam River, at the mill pond of the Second 
Mousam mill, a neck or joint of land exclusive of highway." 

1753. Laid out for Richard Thompson, under Look's grant 
(17 14), forty acres at the lower end of his house lot, on its western 
side, on the road leading from Alewive road to the Middle Mills, 
adjoining the homestead of said Richard, who was succeeded by his 
son David, and David by his son Edward. 

Paul Shackford moved from Kennebunkport to this town about 
1750, purchased land in Lower Alewive and put up buildings thereon. 
This land was bounded by the road leading to Upper Alewive on 
the east, by that leading from the Alewive road to the Middle Mills 
(now West Kennebunk) on the south, northerly by lot purchased in 
1753 by John Maddox and westerly by land of Richard Thompson. 
Bradbury says he ''built the first house in the village of Kennebunk- 
port, about 1740. He was a ship carpenter," and after his removal 
to Alewive "he built quite a large vessel and hauled her to the sea." 
Beyond the facts here given we know nothing concerning him. His 
dwelling was torn down probably before the commencement of the 
last century. He had one son and perhaps a daughter or daughters. 

Paul, Jr,,^ bought fifty acres of land of "ShubuU Boston, Aug. 
15, 1785, bounds beginning at a red oak tree, marked, then S. W. 
thirty-three rods to a pitch pine tree, then S. E. sixty rods, then N. 
E. to Elwife meadows, then northwesterly by said meadows and 
Elwife Pond to first bounds. The said tract was part of lot No. 
ID, in North Division." His buildings are not now standing and 
his acres are merged in a neighboring farm. 

There were laid out for John Maddox (under Caleb Littlefield 
& Co.'s grant), in 1753, twenty-five acres of land, bounded southerly 
by Paul Shackford's land and running west-northwest. Maddox was 
the son of Henry Maddox, who moved from Berwick to Kennebunk- 
port at a date unknown. John came to this town about 1745, mar- 
ried Sarah Kimball in 1747 and erected a house about 1754. They 
had several children. In later years his farm came into the posses- 

'The Wells records .say that Paul Shackford married Hannah Day, Oct. 26, 
1774, and also that Paul Shackford married Meribah Whittum, Dec. 2, 1784. He 
had several children. 



126 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

sion of Daniel Hodsdon and was cultivated by a tenant, a Mr. 
Rideout, for several years. Hodsdon sold to Nathan Ferrin, of 
Newfield, who occupied the farm, tore down the old buildings and 
put up new. His son Nathan now owns and occupies it. 

There were several families of the name of Maddox in this 
town in the early part of 1800, descendants of John and Sarah; 
one had a dwelling and a large tract of land on the Sanford road, 
another a dwelling and land on the Alewive road, a short distance 
south of the bridge over the railway track, both long since demol- 
ished or removed. We think there is only one family of this sur- 
name now residing here. 

July 9, 1754, fifty acres of Caleb Littlefield & Co.'s grant were 
laid out for Joseph .Town, "beginning at Adam Ross's northerly 
corner and by his head line to James Burnham's land." Town died 
a few years later, and this lot, with the buildings thereon, was sold 
to Joseph Averill by James Hubbard, administrator of Town's estate; 
Shadrack Watson (who married Susanna Kimball, 1733) succeeded 
Averill; Joseph Taylor, son of Colonel John, succeeded Watson. 
That part of this farm lying on the west side of the road is now 
owned and occupied by Marshall Kimball; so much thereof as lies 
on the east side is a part of Edwin Walker's farm. 

Fifty acres of land were laid out for Daniel Little, 1754, under 
grant to John Littlefield, November 20, 1660,^ beginning about 
twenty rods from Alewive Brook, by land of Adam Ross, on north- 
east side of said brook. Little sold this lot to Waldo Emerson and 
Emerson to Gibbens Wakefield, who erected buildings thereon, a 
short distance from the highway. Jeremiah Miller succeeded Wake- 
field, who sold to Eliphalet Walker, by whom the old buildings were 
removed and new ones erected in a better location. Walker was a 
tanner and carried on the business here; at his death the property 
came into possession of his son, Tobias, who was for several years 
one of the selectmen of the town, — from 1828 to 183 1 inclusive, 
and again in 1855. He represented the District of Kennebunk and 
Alfred in the State Legislatures of 1846 and 1849. Edwin, son of 
Tobias, now owns and occupies this farm. He was one of the select- 
men of the town six years, from 1874 to 1882 inclusive. 

There were laid out for James Burnham, under last-named 
grant, fifty acres, "beginning at Daniel Little's westerly corner," 

' Nov. 20, 1660. Town granted to .John Littlefield, William Hammond, John 
Bush, Nicholas Oole and Jonathan Thing, one hundred acres of upland and ten of 
marsh, each. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 127 

July 8, 1854, and on the following day fifty-five acres, under grant 
to James Willett (17 13), beginning at Mr. Little's northerly corner. 
This fifty-five acres had been previously — 1734 — laid out for Burn- 
ham at the great eddy on Little River/ but it was found that the 
lot had already been laid out for other persons, and this location 
was in lieu of that first made. 

There were laid out for John Gillpatrick, May 29, 1752, fifty- 
nine acres (under Caleb Littlefield & Co.'s and Jonathan Littlefield's 
grants), "beginning at the mouth of a little gully on the E. side of 
Mousam River, about twenty-four rods above the Cat Mill." This 
estate was held by John and his descendants more than a century; 
it is now in possession of Emerson Littlefield. 

Gillpatrick and Obediah Littlefield purchased the two hundred 
acres of land which were granted to John Wadleigh in 1720 and 
laid out to his heirs in 1731, the bounds of which were renewed to 
Gillpatrick and Littlefield in 1760, on the northeast side of Mousam 
River and adjoining the grant to the Eppses, then held by John 
Storer. 

John Mitchell (Cat Mousam) bought ten acres of meadow in 
1765, the bounds of eight of which are thus described: "beginning 
at the easterly corner of a hundred acre lot, now in possession of 
said Mitchell, on the southwest side of and adjoining Mousam 
River, the road that goeth between Samuel Stevens's land and the 
river and by Jonathan Taylor's land and the river"; the remaining 
two acres lying at the "head of Mitchell's hundred acre lot." 

In a description of a lot of land laid out for John Wormwood, 
in 1752, and of a lot laid out for Joshua Goodwin, in 1757, the saw- 
mill on the north branch of Little River is referred to as the saw-mill 
on said river, authorizing the inference that there was no other mill 
on this river in either of those years. 

Caleb Kimball's grant of one hundred acres (1735) was laid 
out in 1735, "near Kennebunk River, beginning at the northerly 
corner bounds of the upper lot of Samuel Littlefield." Fifty acres 
of this grant were sold to Capt. James Ross, the bounds of which 
were reviewed in 1771, "beginning at Kennebunk River, adjoining 
fence and land of Richard Kimball, Jr., and running westerly to 
James Kimball's land, then N. N. E. by Kimball's and widow Sam- 
uel Shackley's lands to Kennebunk River and by the river to first 

' The surveyor describes the great eddy lot, in part, as follows: " From sd tree 
run sowsowwest eighty rods to a red oke tree markt on foure sides and markt 
with the letters g: b." 



128 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

mentioned bounds." The other half-part became the property of 
Thomas Kimball, succeeded by James, then by Peabody and his 
descendants. 

November 9, 1752, Stephen Larrabee bought (under Caleb Lit- 
tlefield &: Co.'s grant) sixty-one acres, "beginning at the mouth of 
a little brook, about forty rods below the mouth of Alewive Brook." 
This has been known, until within a few years, as the "Larrabee 
farm," on the extension of the road by the Ross farm to Lower 
Alewive. Joel, son of Stephen, put up a dwelling-house and other 
buildings on this lot in 1774-5, occupying them for the first time 
January i, 1776. In 1828 a part of this house was torn down, the 
other part removed east of Ross's, which was afterward owned and 
occupied by Mrs. Lancey Littlefield. Ebenezer, son of Joel, put up a 
new dwelling-house on or near the site of the old one thus disposed 
of, living there a number of years, when he sold it and purchased the 
estate then vacated by Thomas L. Littlefield, on Mechanic Street ; 
here he made his home. Joel, son of Ebenezer, resides on Portland 
Street, opposite the site of the house built by Nathaniel Kimball 
(1726), where he has erected neat and commodious buildings. 

Samuel and John Shackley, brothers, shoemakers and tanners, 
bi-'came residents of this town about 1740. Samuel purchased a 
tract of land opposite Caleb Kimball's grant and erected a house 
thereon, also a tannery. He had seven children, viz. : John, Rich- 
ard, Joseph, Ebenezer, Thomas, Mary and Keziah. Thomas was 
deformed; Ebenezer was quite small (four feet and two inches in 
height), was a shoemaker by trade and kept a small store, near the vil- 
lage bridge, for many years, where he accumulated a few thousands 
of dollars ; he was peculiar, but honest in all his dealings and a good 
citizen. Richard lived awhile on the Alfred road, in the house built 
by Ebenezer Rand, a relative, and became Rand's heir; he was the 
father of Samuel Shackley, whose descendants still reside in town; 
he removed to Lyman, "two miles north of Kennebunkport line," 
at a date unknown, having exchanged farms with Samuel B. Low. 
The Rand buildings were moved by Low to the village. Joseph, who 
lived in Sanford, was the father of Capt. Joseph Shackley. Mary 
married Samuel Cole, of Sanford, whose son bought land on the 
road leading from Upper Alewive to the Plains and built a house 
there, to which an addition was subsequently made for the occu- 
pancy of his son. 

John Shackley (1740) located himself about a mile north of his 
brother and erected a dwelling-house and outbuildings, also a tannery. 



HISTORY OF' KENNEBUNK. 129 

near the confluence of Alewive Brook with the Kennebunk River. 
He had a son, Daniel, who inherited the homestead ; he was suc- 
ceeded in its ownership by his son, Daniel, who occupied the estate 
many years. He sold out and removed to the Portland road, near 
Bartlett's Mills, occupying the house built by the Coulliard brothers ; 
this house he afterward purchased. He left two sons, both of whom 
took up their residence in Portsmouth, N. H., and a daughter, Mary, 
who sold the property on the Portland road and moved to the vil- 
lage. The buildings erected by John (1740) were destroyed by fire, 
the tan pits are filled up, and the old homestead acres show few or 
no signs of former inhabitation. 

In 1752 the saw-mill on the Lower Falls (Mousam Village), 
which had been in a dilapidated condition for many years and which 
had not been operated since the freshet of 1708, was rebuilt by 
Joseph Storer, Nathaniel Wakefield and Stephen Larrabee. It 
stood, however, but a short time; the great freshet of 1755 swept 
this structure away and rendered the dam nearly worthless. In 1759 
the saw-mill was built on the site now occupied by the merino fac- 
tory and a grist-mill near by, the precise location of which is not now 
known. Of course the remains of the old dam were removed and an- 
other dam built on the site of that now standing in the village. When 
Coburn^ came here, in 1757, to make preparations for the building 
of the new mills, the territory south of the " Saco path " (now Garden 
Street and a part of Main Street) and east of the way to Mousam 
Landing, as far as the present Town Hall, was a forest. Probably 
the lot on which the Storer mansion stood had been cleared years 
before. 

The road laid out in 1796, from the village bridge, by Jefferds's, 
the mile brook. Hart's land and the Great Swamp to "Gould's 
Causey," was undoubtedly mainly over a beaten track that had been 
long used, but which had not been surveyed and formally accepted 
by the town. (If it had been legally laid out, no record was made 
of the fact, or, if recorded, it has escaped our observation.) There 
must have been a comfortable pathway from the sea to the mills 

'Joseph C^oburn came here, in 1757, as an assistant to Joseph Storer, who had 
detei-mined to make this part of the town liis permanent residence, to rebuild 
the saw-mill, to build a grist-mill, and to operate these mills. Ooburn came to 
Wells from York, and had probably been an assistant to or partner with Storer 
for several years previous to the above-named date. In 1761 he purchased one- 
third of the 202 acres — embracing a portion of the territory now occupied by the 
village — which Thomas Oousens bought of Oorwin's heirs. This purchase, how- 
ever, was doubtless made in behalf of Storer, who subsequently came into posses- 
sion of it. 



130 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNIC. 

many years before. The widow Taylor lived on the west side of 
the river, near what is known as " Wallingford's pasture," as early 
as 1715 ; she was succeeded by Edward Evans, about 1735. William 
Wormwood, Jr., a little farther down the river, built his house before 
1727. Ebenezer Dunham had erected buildings near the present 
intersection of the roads from the village to the sea and from the 
Port to Wells ^ prior to 1756, and Colonel Hart became the owner 
of the Sanders place in 1787. Samuel Hart's house was not built 
until 1798 or '99. The Taylor, Dunham, Sanders and Samuel Hart 
houses were demolished many years ago. 

This road was designed to afford those living in its vicinity, as 
well as the public, easier access to Cole's Corner and also to the 
mills and hamlets at Harriseeket and the Branch. This movement 
stirred up the citizens living within the present village boundaries to 
adopt prompt and effective measures for securing a more convenient 
way whereby western Wells and the roads through and beyond it 
could be reached. The "Turnpike" was the outgrowth of what 
may properly be termed this forced appreciation of the necessity for 
such action. 

The vicinity of this road has never been populous; the farms 
were valuable, in former years, for the splendid pine and other 
growth usually embraced within their bounds and for the strip of 
good intervale v/hich, in most cases, formed a part of their acreage. 
The facilities of the farmers for fishing and obtaining seaweed and 
marsh mud were and still are excellent. As a whole, however, the 
tillage land is not of superior quality. 

In 1805 the town voted that "Cole's District shall extend from 
the Doctor's Bridge, so-called, to John Clark's, to Col. Henry Hart's 
and to Nathan Wells's." In 18 10 a separate school district, embrac- 
ing the inhabitants and estates on this road and in its vicinity, was 
"set off and formed" by the town. The signers of the petition for 
this movement, we presume, embraced all the male adults within 
"School District No. 4," excepting Henry and Samuel Hart, who 
preferred not to sever their connection with Cole's District. The 

1 Ichabod Dunham, probably a brother to Ebenezer, lived in Wells prior to 
1744. In that year he enlisted "as a private soldier to serve His Majesty King 
George the Second in a company of Foot, nnder the command of Major John 
Storer, in an expedition against the French settlements at Gape Breton and the 
Islands adjacent." The author has in his possession Dunham's acknowledgment 
of his voluntary enlistment as above, dated Feb. 5, 1744; he made his mark for a 
signature. John Wtorer, "one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for said 
County," appends his certificate that Dunham had taken the "oath of fidelity, 
that he was aged thirty-flve years and was born at Plympton, Mass., and that he 
had been paid one pound, new emission, inlisting money." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 131 

petitioners were Nathan, Joseph, William and Samuel Wells, Jr., 
Abner, William and William Wormwood, Jr., Thomas Fernald, John 
and Samuel Bragdon. 

We have now told what we know concerning the early history 
of that portion of our town lying between Mousam and Little Rivers. 

Returning to and crossing the village bridge, we find that 
shortly after it had been built near its present location (17 7 2-1 774) 
Joseph Storer cleared off the logs from a part of his mill yard and 
made a passable way from the bridge to a point where it intersected 
the then traveled road by way of what is termed Garden Street. He 
also cleared the space novv- occupied by stores on the north side of 
Main Street. In order to do this it was necessary — in addition to 
all other vacant places about the mill available for the purpose — to 
encumber the road from ''the mill pc^nd above Mousam mill" (Gar- 
den Street) with logs and sawed lumber, and also to occupy a broad 
strip from that part of Mr. Storer's lawn adjoining the road and in 
front of his dwelling-house with the same materials. This operation 
of course diminished materially the width of the road (four rods 
wide, as laid out in 1765). It was done without legal authority, but 
it was regarded as a great convenience and benefit and we infer was 
very generally and cheerfully assented to. No claims or concessions 
in regard to their highway were made by Storer or the town ; the 
movement was regarded simply as a temporary arrangement, mutu- 
ally beneficial to mill owners and citizens, a much needed improve- 
ment, and the space now occupied by stores on the triangular lot 
was cleared, embracing what is Main Street, from the bridge to 
Scotchman's Brook, and the store lots fronting thereon. 

Joseph Storer, son of the before-named Joseph, was the first to 
put up a store on the triangular lot which his father had cleared, — 
17S3-1785. It was a large building, two stories high, and stood on 
the lot afterward occupied by Clark's store. This was called the 
"long store." It was furnished with an excellent stock (f goods, 
among which was a small assortment of dress fabrics, probably the 
first that had been offered for sale in town. Succeeding Barnard as 
postmaster, Storer removed the post office to this building, where it 
was kept until 1810, when he resigned, having been appointed collect- 
or of the customs, in place of Jonas Clark. The custom house was 
kept in this building until 18 15, when it was changed to its present 
location in Kennebunkport. One Joseph Marsh, a popular young 
man and a connection of Storer, was a clerk in his store for several 



132 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

years. Mr. Storer relinquished trading within two or three months 
after the custom house had been removed, and the store was occu- 
pied by Stephen Thacher, who left town in 1818, having received 
the appointment of collector of the customs at Lubec. Benaiah Lit- 
tlefield occupied this building two or three years as a dwelling-house; 
a small vacant lot on the west side afforded him an excellent garden 
spot, which he profitably improved. It was purchased, about 1833, 
by Isaac Lord (firm of James & Isaac Lord), moved to High Street, 
on the west side of the river, fitted up for a dwelling-house and occu- 
pied by Mr. Lord a few years, when he left town and the building 
was sold to Capt. Joseph Hatch, Jr., by whom and his widow it was 
improved many years; after her decease it was sold by her heirs to 
Albert M. Reed. 

The second building put up on the mill-yard lot was a store 
erected by Thomas Boothby about 1795. It is probable that he or 
one of his sons traded here, although there is no positive evidence 
that such is the fact. Ebenezer Shackley was the first tenant of 
whom we can obtain certain information ; he traded there twenty 
years or more and then moved into Pearson's store (now William 
Fairfield's). He was succeeded in the Boothby store by John Pellion, 
a butcher, who sold meats, provisions and groceries : he remained 
two or three years and then moved to Providence, R. I. Pellion was 
succeeded by Adoniram Hardison and he by George Perkins, who 
occupied it a few years and then relinquished trading for, to him, 
the more congenial employment of farming. The building stood on 
the lot formerly occupied by the store of T. W. Rice & Co. and next 
to the mill yard. We are told that it was removed out of the village, 
some two or three miles, and converted into a dwelling-house. 

The third store built on this triangular lot, where Dresser's 
store now stands, was put up by Jesse and Joel Larrabee about 1790. 
They or their sons undoubtedly traded there for awhile ; they were 
succeeded by Parker Webster, who afterward moved up town to the 
Washington Hall building, and he by George Perkins, Sr., whose 
family lived at the Port until the house and store erected by him 
were fit for occupancy. 

The heirs of Jesse (Jesse and Benjamin) sold to their uncle 
Joel in December, 1798, for the sum of fifty dollars, one-half of this 
store, which is thus described in the deed : "the one-half of a cer- 
tain store in Wells, now standing on the lower saw-mill privilege on 
Mousam River, between Joseph Storer's store and a store lately 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 133 

built by Thomas Boothby, which store was built by Jesse Larrabee, 
deceased, and the said Joel in partnership, and said store is now 
occupied by Parker Webster, together with one-half of the land the 
said store stands on and one-half the privileges and appurtenances." 

This store subsequently had various tenants, until purchased 
by James Ross in 1823 and moved to the west side of the river, an 
addition built on and fitted up for a dwelling. It is now the second 
house on Pleasant Street and is generally known as the "Samuel 
Kimbal! house." 

A large two-story building, the fourth on the mill lot, was put 
up by Richard Gillpatrick and occupied by him and his son William 
for many years as a store. It was subsequently occupied by George 
W. Wallingford as an apothecary shop. The post office was kept 
there a few years. It stood on the lot afterward occupied by Wig- 
gins's meat shop. 

The fifth and last building on the triangular lot was erected by 
Capt. John Low for a store, where he transacted business for a few 
years. It was improved by Bcnaiah Littlefield as a carpenter shop 
until he moved into a new shop, on the site of the Larrabee store, 
erected by him for himself and his sons, George and Thomas. 
Edmund Lord lived in this fifth building for a year or two, until his 
house on Pleasant Street (afterward owned by Rev. Mr. Worth) was 
ready for occupancy. The last tenant was Joseph Getchell, manu- 
facturer of tinware and dealer in stoves, whose son John later occu- 
pied a building on the same lot. It was destroyed by fire in 1862, 
and on the site of the old store Mr. Getchell and his son John built 
another. In 1889 the building and lot were purchased by George 
L. Little and fitted up as a jewelry store for his son-in-law, William 
G. Frost. John Getchell continued the tin business on the second 
floor for a short time. 

Some four or five years before Storer buiit the "long store," 
Tobias Lord erected a small store (1778) on the west side of what 
is now Water Street, two or three rods west of Scotchman's Brook, 
trading there in lumber and ship timber and building vessels at 
Mousam Landing. James Osborn, Sr., was his clerk. One Prentice, 
a trader and schoolmaster, put up a building nearly opposite the 
lower dam the following year. A shed was hauled from the defunct 
salt works at Boothby's Beach, which was made tenantable as a 
dwelling-place, and a small addition attached to the north end, 
which v/as utilized as a store. Prentice taught school hereabout 



134 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

several years before he went into trade and afterward united the 
employments of trader and schoolmaster. He earned a good repu- 
tation as a teacher and was esteemed a worthy citizen. His mar- 
riage to Dolly Day took place in 1776. In 1782 he bought of Ben- 
jamin Day fifty acres of land, situated in Harriseeket or the Day 
neighborhood. In 1788 he left town, probably to take up his abode 
in some locality where the prospects of success were more encour- 
aging, inasmuch as traders who were able to command more capital 
than it was his fortune to possess were rapidly increasing in the 
vicinity of Mousam Mills, After Prentice vacated his house it was 
occupied by John Bourne, who probably worked at his trade, that of 
shipwright, at Mousam Landing; he however did not remain long, 
but moved to Kennebunk Landing. Dominicus Lord, having sold 
his house on Tavern Hill, succeeded Bourne as tenant of the Pren- 
tice house ; after living here a long time he moved the building to a 
lot adjoining, easterly, that occupied by Joseph Thomas on (now) 
Pleasant Street. The house was torn down shortly after his decease, 
February 5, 1849, aged eighty-seven years. 

Tobias Lord, about 178 1 (in November of which year he mar- 
ried Hepzibah Conant), built a small house on a lot adjoining and 
north of that occupied by Prentice, which was nearly opposite the 
lower dam. He moved to Kennebunk Landing some nine or ten 
years later, where he continued the business of shipbuilding and 
trading. Here he erected a large three-story house and a good-sized 
store; these he improved until 1803, when he relinquished business 
and moved to Alfred. The house was occupied many years by his 
son Ivory, and the store by his sons, George and Ivory. Both build- 
ings were taken down within a few years. John Low succeeded Mr. 
Lord as tenant of his house opposite the lower dam. Low remained 
there during the building of his house on Tavern Hill (now the Uni- 
tarian parsonage). A few years later Mrs. John Gillespie became 
the occupant of the Lord house, where she dwelt many years, so 
long that it obtained the sobriquet of the "Gillespie house." It was 
torn down by Mr. Fiske, agent of the Manufacturing Company, 
prior to 1840. 

About midway between the lower and the upper dam a small 
dwelling-house has stood for many years on the river's bank. By 
whom or when built is unknown. In the numerous conveyances 
made by different holders of shares in the Island Iron Works and 
in the grist-mill, which stood in close proximity thereto; in the fre- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 135 

quent references, on the records, to the removal of the bridge and 
in the surveyor's return of the laying out of town rights, by Jefferds, 
from the bank of the river inward, to secure certain desirable privi- 
leges, — all between the years 1770 and 1800, — no mention is made 
of this building or of the lot on which it stands. The town and the 
county records have been unsuccessfully resorted to for the desired 
information. The building has had numerous tenants, of v.hom, so 
far as has been ascertained, Joseph Curtis, a tanner, was the first. 
Did he build it.' The "oldest inhabitant" is at fault when this 
inquiry is made to him. The peculiar position of this property, as 
regards the builder's name and the authority under which it was 
located where it stands, affords a wide range for queries which can- 
not, without additional light on the subject, be decisively answered. 

On the southeasterly corner of the way opened by Storer, nearly 
equidistant from this and the town road (by the river), was the tim- 
ber house put up by Ichabod Cousens in the early part of the century, 
which he vacated in 1758 when he moved to his new home on the 
west side of the river. Joseph Coburn succeeded him as tenant of 
the timber house. This was torn down by Storer about 1780 and a 
new building erected on or near its site; it was fitted for a shop 
on the lower floor and a dwelling on the upper. As soon as com- 
pleted it was occupied by one Hooper, a cabinet-maker, who married 
Mary, daughter of Capt. George Perkins, Sr. He lived there sev- 
eral years and then left town. William Hacket succeeded to his 
business, occupying the same shop. Mr. Hacket had been here only 
three or four years when his shop was burned with all its contents 
through the carelessness of a journeyman, who left the room for 
breakfast, neglecting to remove a vessel containing some combusti- 
ble material, which stood in close proximity to the fire and which 
ignited, setting fire to the shavings strewn about the floor; the 
flames spread with great rapidity. Deprived of tools, stock and 
shop, Mr. Hacket concluded to abandon the cabinet-maker's busi- 
ness and engage in trade. He succeeded Parker \\'ebster in the 
Washington Hall building. 

Daniel Whitney, somewhat celebrated in his day as the manu- 
facturer of " Back-strap and Snarrow" boots, built the house (after- 
ward occupied by Claudius B. Williams) in 18 10 and a shop on the 
northwesterly corner of the lot in 181 1. This lot had been used for 
a burying-ground, but at what date the first interment was made 
therein is not known. The remains of those who had been interred 



136 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

in this ground were exhumed in 1805-6 and reinterred in various 
family lots. It is said quite a number of bodies had been buried 
there, but precisely how many of the descendants, with a single ex- 
ception, cannot be ascertained. The remains of Samuel Littlefield, 
commonly called " Fat Sam," ^ were found and removed to the cem- 
etery near the church and reinterred on the lot belonging to his 
grandson, Moses Littlefield. " Fat Sam " was a well-known citizen 
in the early days of the settlement; his name frequently occurs in 
deeds and documents dated prior to 1730. 

^Bradbury says "Fat Sam" was the son of Edmund Littlefield, who was the 
son of Francis, Sr., of Arundel, who was the son of Edmund, one of the Exeter 
combination and one of the earliest settlers of Wells. " Edmund, Jr., lived in the 
neighliorhood of Mousam River." Samuel— "Fat Sam" — married Elizabeth 
Goodale in 172.5, and for a time lived at Littlefield's Mills, but subsequently 
removed to Oape Arundel, occupying the house in Inch Thomas AViswall after- 
ward lived. He had four sons, Samuel, Anthony, Elijah and Edward. Samuel, 
Jr., was an active and well-known citizen of Kennebunk in 1750. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

"the times that tried men's souls." 

The French and Indian War — 1755 to 1760 — retarded for a 
season the growth and improvement of the Second Parish. A large 
percentage of the heads of families and of young men in Wells vol- 
unteered in answer to a call for men to battle against their old ene- 
mies, the Indians and the French. The increased population of the 
seashore towns, their improved defenses and their supplies of arms 
and ammunition, which were by no means abundant but still far 
better than in previous years, rendered it less hazardous than here- 
tofore for the strong and active men to leave the settlement for a 
time. We think the following very nearly an accurate list of vol- 
unteers in the Second Parish. 

Butland, John, Evans, John, 

Butland, William, Evans, William, 

Cousens, Nathaniel, Kimball, Richard, Jr., 

^Dunham, Ebenezer, Ross, Adam, 

Emmons, John (son of Samuel). Shackford, Paul, 

- Evans, Abner, Wakefield, Samuel. 

The importance of wresting Canada from the French was fully 
realized by our people. While the French had a foothold there no 
hope could be reasonably entertained that the Colony w-ould be 
safe from frequent incursions and horrible atrocities by their Indian 
allies; until the settlers could be assured that their lives and prop- 
erty were secure from the attacks of their savage enemies, anxiety 
must be their constant companion, enterprise must be crippled and 
all progress greatly impeded. 

Some of our volunteers were sent to the lakes in the vicinity of 
Canada, some were employed as Coast Guards, while others engaged 
in hard-fought battles; all were in active service and proved thcm- 

' lUuihain was killed at Fort Niagara, la 175S. 

-The Evans brothers were stationed at Fort Edward, on the Hudson, and 
were part of a guard of thirty men who were sent, with suppliers, to Fort William 
Henry, at the head of Lake George. The guard was waylaid by the Indians and 
all were killed excepting one of these brothers, who escaped and i-eaehed Fort 
William Henry. His subsequent history is unknown. 

137 



138 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

selves to be brave and intrepid soldiers. Excepting the three named 
in the foregoing notes, all our volunteers returned to their homes in 
safety. Although in other sections the Indians had committed 
depredations and cruelties during the war, in this vicinity none 
had appeared. 

The conflicts with the Indians and French were not without 
their influence in the hearts and homes of those of our New England 
people who had been engaged in them. Commanded by officers 
from among themselves, they had fought and won on several battle- 
fields; therefore they could not avoid the comparison nor could they 
resist the conclusion that, in capacity, bravery, endurance and all 
the essentials of a reliable soldiery, they were the peers, to say the 
least, of the better disciplined, better clothed and better fed soldiers 
from European armies, respecting whom they had had opportunities 
for forming a pretty correct judgment. Our people had been learn- 
ing self-reliance, and were feeling that they were men as well as 
subjects; the slavish reverence for kingly power was loosening its 
grasp upon them ; they were willing to submit to the Crown as 
peaceable and good citizens, but the arbitrary measures, the depri- 
vation of rights and the insulting decrees and orders promulgated 
by the Mother Country were each succeeding year grating more and 
more harshly upon their sensibilities. When a decade later— dating 
from the peace of 1760 — it was whispered, in effect, "This is getting 
to be unbearable, we cannot submit to be reduced to serfdom," the 
listeners to these treasonable suggestions were not backward in ex- 
pressing their hearty approval of them, and when, a few years later, 
it was openly avowed, "Better die on the battlefield like men than 
live mere puppets or slaves," the words, accompanied with an em- 
phatic " So be it," were echoed and re-echoed throughout the land. 
The Colonists wt.'ll knew the strength and resources of the govern- 
ment against which they would be compelled to contend, but they 
looked back upon their own record in the conflicts in which they 
had "borne the heat and burden of the day," and they felt that 
their cause was just; if necessary, they would fight and trust in God 
for the issue. England had availed herself of the services of the 
Colonists to uphold and increase her power; the Colonists, while 
thus employed, had gained the knowledge and experience which 
were to render them successful in resisting unjust exactions and in 
the building of a nation of self-governed freemen. 

Notwithstanding the discontent and murmurings of which we 
have just spoken, the commencement of the year 1770 found the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 139 

Second Parish remarkably prosperous. The Indian troubles were 
over. In every section of its territory land had been taken up and 
cultivated; many dwelling-houses had been erected, several were 
being built and building lots had been secured for future improve- 
ment as homesteads. Several mechanics were plying their respec- 
tive vocations; shipyards on the Mousam and the Kennebunk Rivers 
were furnishing employment for laborers and adding to the wealth 
of its citizens; there was a country store at the Landing, one at the 
Kimball neighborhood and one on what is now the main street of 
the principal village; there was within the precinct a meeting-house, 
which, although an uncomely edifice, within and without, had been 
procured at the cost of no inconsiderable amount of hard labor, as 
well as of self-sacrifice ; a pastor had been settled over the parish 
for about twenty years; a schoolhouse had been built in a central 
location and schools were kept in private houses in the more remote 
parts of the territory. Roads had been laid out, good bridges across 
ihe rivers had succeeded the old wading places, saw-mills and a 
grist-mill were in operation ; land was cheap, timber abundant, the 
water power on the rivers a prospective source of remunerative busi- 
ness, and harbors, easily accessible from the ocean, offered facilities 
for fishing and for commerce that needed only capital, which was 
slowly accumulating, for their successful development and prosecution. 
For several years preceding the date we have mentioned clouds 
had been gathering in the political horizon, which, however, for 
awhile had excited no special anxiety. It was hoped and believed 
that they would dissolve and pass away without occasioning general 
disquiet or leading to serious consequences; but these hopes were 
not based on a solid f(jundation. Instead of dissolving they became 
more widespread and of a darker hue, and now threatened to over- 
shadow the entire length and breadth of the Colonies, to cause depres- 
sion everywhere to succeed buoyancy of spirits, to cause neglected 
farms, where patient toil had been putting forth its utmost efi:orts to 
make "the desert blossom as the rose," to increase taxation, already 
sufficiently burdensome, and to cause enterprise in every department 
of industry to be checked. The government of the Mother Country 
was mistrustful of her subjects in the Colonies; they had exhibited 
too many of the qualities of true manhood, too many evidences of 
thrift and self-reliance, too much intelligent appreciation of their 
" inalienable rights " as citizens and as subjects. In their intercourse 
with the king and his representatives, while always respectful, there 



140 HISTORY OF KENNKBUNK. 

had been manifested too great a degree of mental acumen, as well 
as of fearless independence, to .comport with monarchical ideas of 
the proper attitude of mere dependents or Colonists, who were 
expected to obey the mandates of their sovereign without exercising 
the right of private judgment as to their propriety or impropriety, 
to fight his battles, whether offensive or defensive, in blind obedi- 
ence to orders and, satisfied with a bare subsistence, to submit in 
silence to excessive taxation and to a policy which deprived them 
of fair facilities for the accumulation of wealth and for the exercise 
and enjoyment of those conditions of society essential to prosperity 
and to mental and social advancement. Their legislative assemblies 
were manipulated by hirelings of the Crown, and they were denied 
the privilege of presenting in Parliament, through a representative 
of their own untrammeled choice, their views on questions affecting 
their highest interests. 

For a season these grievances were patiently borne, with the 
hope that a different and more acceptable policy would be adopted 
by the Home Government ; of this, however, as the years rolled 
along, there were no indications. Expressions of discontent became 
general and more and more pronounced ; respectful representations, 
succeeded by earnest remonstrances, served rather to augment than 
to relax the oppressive measures which had been imposed on the 
Colonists. Massachusetts and Virginia, especially, by word and 
act, evinced the purpose of resistance, and these utterances and 
movements were well received by the masses; the spirit of opposi- 
tion to the acts of the sovereign becanie more and more extended 
and demonstrative. The decided stand taken by citizens of Boston 
against the rigorous and oppressive measures of the Hon.e Govern- 
ment, especially that bold and momentous act, the destruction of 
three hundred and forty-two chests of tea in Boston Harbor, on the 
evening of December i6, 1773/ aroused the indignation of the king 
and his counselors, and the Parliament, in 1774, passed as a retalia- 
tory measure an act known as the Boston Port Bill, which provided 
for the removal of the customs, courts of justice and public olhces 
of every kind from Boston to Salem. This proceeding destroyed 
the trade of the first-named town, paralyzed every branch of industry 

1 Seven thousand persons were present at a public meeting, held early the 
same evening, and they voted unanimously that the three cargoes of tea then 
lying on shipboard in the harbor should not be landed. Assured that the British 
authorities were determined to land them, contrary to the remonstrances of the 
Colonists, and strengthened by the approving voices of so many of the best citi- 
zens, the " Mohews " proceeded, by their destruction, to defeat the purpose of the 
minions of the Cirowu. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 141 

and caused great suffering among the poor and laboring classes. 
Probably, until these events, the inhabitants of Wells, with perhaps 
very few exceptions, had not fully realized the critical condition of 
affairs between the Colonies and Great Britain; they were aware 
that the Colonists justly complained of the arbitrary proceedings of 
the Mother Country and that these remonstrances were disregarded, 
but they were not prepared for a step so revengeful and hostile on 
the part of the Government, nor were they prepared to hear of 
resistance so determined on the part of the Patriots. That the sen- 
timents of our people, generally, were in complete unison with those 
who had bid defiance to the oppressor there cannot exist a doubt, 
nor can it be doubted that they contemplated the result, which now 
appeared to be inevitable, with apprehension and sorrow. For a 
brief period only had they been enabled to regard their homes as 
places of security, to pursue their various avocations with "heart 
and hope"; they were indulging pleasant anticipations of the future 
while bending their best energies to the improvement of their build- 
ings, tilling of the soil and to the prosecution of various industrial 
pursuits, as far as their pecuniary means and requisite facilities 
would permit, but they were very poor. The "battle of life" with 
them, thus far, had been a hard and unremunerative contest. 
"Rebellion against the King! can it possibly be successful with all 
the odds so much against us.'" The prospect was a gloomy one, 
with so much to fear and so little to hope for! Such thoughts nat- 
urally possessed their minds for a season, but it was for a season 
only. When the hour of action came, they proved themselves to be 
the men for the hour. The people of Wells and of other towns in 
York County sympathized deeply with the distressed inhabitants of 
the doomed capital, and the members of the Second or Kennebunk 
Parish manifested their sympathy by sending to their unfortunate 
brethren a liberal donation of wood (money they could not send to 
them), which was forwarded to Boston by a sloop commanded by 
Capt. Ebenezer Hovey, in January, 1775. This most timely present 
was acknowledged, with hearty thanks, by the " Committee of 
Donations." ^ 

The people of York County, especially those residing in the 
coast towns, viewed these startling events with absorbing interest ; 
they evidenced antagonism between the Home Government and the 
Massachusetts Colony that could not easily be reconciled. So inti- 

^ In 1760 the Second or Kennebunk Parish contributed more tlian two hundred 
dollars for the relief of the sufferers by a fire which destroyed about two hundred 
buildings in Boston. 



142 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

mate were the business relations between these towns and Boston, 
that this blow to the prosperity of the latter was deplored as a dis- 
aster seriously affecting their own welfare. We infer, from the 
slight information on this subject that is now attainable, that a 
majority of the leading men in Wells, the most wealthy and those 
holding official positions, were of the opinion that those engaged in 
this open resistance to the port bill were precipitate, that a better 
course would have been to bear and foibear for awhile longer, with 
the hope that the Government could be prevailed upon to repeal 
Its exasperating edict and adopt a policy that would be regarded 
with favor by the Colonists; we also infer tb.at the masses, the bone 
and muscle, those who would be looked to as strong men for battle 
should a conflict come, were almost to a man in favor of sustaining 
the Boston patriots in the stand they had taken. Public sentiment 
in other towns was probably similarly divided. A conference of 
delegates from the several towns in the county, for consultation in 
reference to the then existing state of political affairs, was thought 
to be desirable, and accordingly a call was issued for a convention 
of delegates, which was called the "York County Congress." Very 
little is known concerning this meeting; it was held at Littlefield's 
Tavern, in Wells, on the fifteenth and sixteenth days of November, 
1774, and the object was stated to be: "to take into consideration 
what measures may be pursued tending to the Peace and Welfare of 
the County." Several resolutions were adopted which were suffi- 
ciently patriotic in their tone, we should suppose, to meet the 
approval of their Boston friends. We have the names of only three 
of the delegates chosen, viz., John Hovey, Tobias Lord and Asa 
Burbank, of Arundel. The name of William Laighton is attached 
to the resolutions as clerk of the Congress, but the presiding oflicer 
is not given. In the tavern keeper's bill of "Congress expenses" 
is a charge for "25 men's dinners," and we presume, therefore, that 
twenty-six delegates attended the meeting. We are inclined to the 
opinion that this convention was an unimportant affair, that its pro- 
ceedings were not of such a character as to warrant the high-sound- 
ing title that was applied to it. Laighton, the clerk, there is reason 
to suppose, was a straightforward, fearless man, but we do not find 
anything to justify the application of similar language to other mem- 
bers of this body. Whether the names of the delegates, especially 
those of the president and committee on resolutions, were acci- 
dentally mislaid, or were withheld under instructions prompted by 
timiditv, there are now no means of determining. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 143 

Five months subsequently to the meeting of this Congress, on 
the morning of the nineteenth of April, 1775, "the soil of Lexington 
and Concord was baptized with the blood of American Patriots," an 
event which gave to the Provinces the option of a dishonorable sur- 
render of the position they had taken or its defense at the cost of 
blood and treasure ; the response was given on " Bunker's Heights on 
the glorious seventeenth of June," 1775. These conflicts strength- 
ened the timid and irresolute, and, with few exceptions, all who had 
opposed the revolutionary utterances and decided action of the 
patriotic Provincials now not only admitted the propriety and neces- 
sity of these words and acts, but became the earnest advocates of 
the good cause of resistance to oppression. Asa whole, the people 
of Wells welcomed the Declaration of Independence unanimously 
adopted by the Continental Congress, composed of representatives 
from the thirteen Colonies which were thereafter to be united and 
known as the United States of America. The Declaration was read, 
in accordance M'ith the recommendation of the Provincial Council, 
from the pulpit of each of the churches on the Sunday following its 
reception in town. The attendance at both churches was unusually 
large, and it may well be supposed that the reading of the matchless 
document was listened to with the closest attention. They did not, 
they could not, fully realize the immense importance of this bold 
measure of Congress nor the magnitude of the undertaking on which 
they had embarked. " We felt," in the words of an old gentleman, 
distinguished as a citizen and a soldier, who listened to the reading 
of the Declaration in the Kennebunk church, and who was narrat- 
ing, to the successor of the pastor by whom it was read, the appear- 
ance and comments of the auditors, as they stood in groups on the 
street after the service was over, — "We felt that the Rubicon had 
been passed ; we well knew our poverty and weakness and the 
greatness and strength of the English ; we well knew that dark and 
troublous times must inevitably be experienced ; we dared not hazard 
conjectures as to the result; we could not doubt that we were in the 
right, and there was a certain indefinable something within each and 
all of us, — the aged, the middle-aged and the young, males and 
females, the religious and irreligious, — that told us to be of good 
cheer, to be faithful to the cause, to endure patiently, and the good 
God would be with us and cause success to attend our efforts." 

The war continued ; compromise was regarded as impossible. 
Great Britain was anxious to suspend hostilities and professed a 
willingness to make concessions, but these, as proposed, could not 



144 HISTORY OF KENXEBUNK. 

be accepted by the Patriots. The Home Government stubbornly 
refused to yield any material point; all the plans presented by it 
virtually declared that the Mother Country must reap the'*harvest, 
while the Colonists were to be the toilers and mere dependents. 
These -'acts of gracious clemency by the Crown"' were spurned as 
insulting and unworthy consideration. The v/ar must go on, although 
the odds were fearfully against our people; defeat and discomfiture 
attended them, until Washington's brilliant and successful move- 
ment at Trenton, on Christmas night, inspired confidence and enthu- 
siasm, and the first campaign under the "Declaration"" closed with 
far better results than had been anticipated. 

The surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, in the autumn 
of 1777, was an important and encouraging event; the treaty with 
France, the following year, by the provisions of which that nation 
became our ally and sent over to us a squadron consisting of sixteen 
ships-of-the-line and frigates, bringing several thousand marines, 
could hardly fail to be looked upon as most auspicious. This 
squadron anchored off Nevvport, in July, to co-operate with General 
Sullivan, but the movement was unsuccessful. The Patriots were 
jubilant, however, and they were not so without abundant cause ; 
the actual existence of an alliance with a powerful nation and the 
appearance of a large fleet of armed ships for service in our behalf 
were well calculated to revive their spirits and animate them with 
high hopes. So far, the presence of D'Estaing's war vessels and 
marines was temporarily helpful, but beyond this good influence it 
is questionable whether they afforded any real benefit to the Ameri- 
can cause. 

Great disappointment was experienced throughout the country 
in consequence of the inactivity of the perverse commander of the 
French fleet during the fall of 1778 and the spring of 1779; our 
operations at the South were unfortunate, and at the North, Wayne's 
capture of Stony Point and Sullivan's successful expedition into the 
Genesee region, although by no means insignificant, furnished no 
basis for hope of an early termination of the conflict. The season 
of 1779 was unfavorable; the crops in this and adjoining towns 
were very scanty, cereals and other esculent plants, when harvested, 
were not sufficient to furnish required food for the population ; pas- 
turage was meager and the hay crop inadequate to the comfortable 
subsistence of the cattle; the following winter was one of great 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 145 

severity/ and, to fill up the measure of adverse circumstances, the 
currency was greatly depreciated, so that thirty dollars in the legal 
tenders of the Government were only equal to one dollar in coin. 
So rapid was the depreciation of the Continental money this year 
that in January seven hundred forty-two dollars in this currency 
would purchase only one hundred dollars in specie, but in the fol- 
lowing December it required two thousand five hundred ninety-three 
dollars in currency to pay for one hundred dollars in specie ; and 
still its course was downward. The whole country was greatly 
agitated by the existing financial embarrassments. While suffering 
from scarcity of food and from this depreciated currency, with 
scarcely a gleam of brightness in any direction which could be re- 
garded as a token that a "better day is dawning," the town of Wells 
was called upon for and raised, in March, July and October of 1779, 
sums aggregating about one hundred thousand dollars in currency, 
equal probably to about three thousand five hundred dollars in coin. 

These were the darkest days of the great struggle for inde- 
pendence. There were privations and suffering everywhere, among 
our soldiers at the different points where they had been stationed ^ 
and very generally in the homes of all classes in the community; 
but while these trials necessarily caused much despondency and 
doubt, there was still more of hope and trust, so strong was the influ- 
ence of the patriotic ardor that pervaded the breasts of the people. 

The harvest of 1780,'' although not extraordinarily abundant, 
was quite equal to the needs of the population, and the winter of 
1780-81 was less severe than the preceding. The arrival at New- 
port, in the summer of 1780, of a large fleet of French ships of war, 
having on board land forces amounting in all to about six thousand 

iTMs was the severest winter ever experienced in America. Narragansett 
Bay was frozen over and the Bay of New York was so firmly bridged with ice that 
large bodies of troops and heavy fleldpieces crossed from New York City to Staten 
Island (a distance of nine miles).— Ross's Historical Discourse. 

= The sufferings of the poor soldiers can scarcely be described ; while on duty 
they are unavoidably exposed to all the inclemency of storms and severe cold; 
at night they now have a bed of straw upon the ground, and a single blanket to 
each man ; they are badly clad and seme are destitute of shoes. The snow is now 
[Jan. (5, 1780,] from four to six feet deep, which so obstructs the roads as to prevent 
our receiving a supply of provisions. For the last ten days we have received but 
two pounds of meat to a man, and we are frequently for six or eight days entirely 
destitute of meat, and then as long without bread. The consequence is, the sol- 
diers are so enfeebled from hunger and cold as to be almost unable to perform 
their military duty or labor In constructing their huts. — 7)r. Thncher's Military 
Journal. 

^ The winter of 1780 was one of remarkable severity. For forty days, thirty-one 
of which were the month of March, there was no perceptible thaw on the south - 

10 



146 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

men, was hailed with great joy throughout the country. The battle 
at King's Mountain, S. C, in which our forces were signally victo- 
rious, also caused great rejoicing; besides this, however, their mili- 
tary operations during the year were not calculated to afford the 
Patriots great encouragement. 

The calls for men to increase and strengthen our army (1781) 
were imperious and equally so was the necessity of raising money 
for the purpose of paying bounties to those who enlistedjand meet- 
ing other pressing demands upon the treasury of the town. These 
calls were responded to with as much willingness and promptitude 
as could be expected or required. The surrender of Cornwallis, 
with his army numbering about seven thousand, to the combined 
Patriot and French forces, at Yorktown, in October of this year, 
inspired feelings of gratulation and confidence throughout the Colo- 
nies and caused temporary forgetfulness of the multiplied sufferings 
and burdens endured in the past. The Patriots dared to hope that 
the contest was virtually ended, that the great object for the attain- 
ment of which they had hazarded so much was within their grasp 
and that British rule in the United States had forever ceased. 

There were no important military movements during the fol- 
lowing year (1782); it was, however, a period fraught with anxious 
fears as well as earnest hopes. Hostilities might be renewed at any 
time and the war protracted, still the belief was almost universally 
entertained that the strife was over ; and such proved to be the fact, 
although the Treaty of Peace was not signed until the third of Sep- 
tember, 1783, and the last of the British troops did not leave our 
shores until late in the autumn of that year. 

The story of the Revolution is so generally well known that it 
may be thought quite unnecessary to occupy so much space in these 

erly side of any house. The snow was so deep and hard that loaded teams passed 
over walls and fences in every direction. Says Hon. Bailey Bartlett in his jour- 
nal: " Snow is so deep and drifted that in breaking a path on the Common we 
made an arch through a bank of snow and rode under the arch on horseback."— 
Chase's History of Haverhill, Mass. 

^This year is rendered memorable for its "dark day," which occurred on the 
nineteenth of May. For a week or more the air had been very thick and heavy, 
and on the morning of the above-named day very black clouds were seen to rise 
suddenly and fast from the west, and soon covered all New England with almost 
total darkness. It was darkest from nine o'clock a. m. to half-past three p. m. 
About twelve, noon, fowls went to roost, frogs peeped, cattle went to their barns 
and night birds appeared. About midnight a breeze sprang up from the north- 
west and the darkness gradually disappeared. It was attributed to a thick 
smoke, which had been accumulating for several days, occasioned by extensive 
fires in Northern New Hampshire, where the people were making many new set- 
tlements.— CAase's History of Haverhill, Mass. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 147 

pages with remarks and details relating to this period in our national 
history, but we desire to refresh the memory of the reader in refer- 
ence to the poverty, hardships and multiplied discouragements — the 
alternations of expectation and depression — which marked the days, 
months and years of that epoch fitly described by Thomas Paine in 
the words: "These are the times that try men's souls." 

There are on the records of Wells copies of several votes, passed 
at different times, which as they stand recorded cannot be regarded 
otherwise than as derogatory to the characters of those through 
whose instrumentality they were adopted. They utter sentiments so 
completely at variance with those repeatedly expressed at other times 
in town meetings and in correspondence, and so thoroughly ignored 
by the action of the entire community excepting a few malcontents, 
that we are wholly unable to account for proceedings so ill-timed and 
unpatriotic. It may have been that for some cause — perhaps the 
occurrence of severe storms — these meetings were thinly attended, 
and that some ex-official with Loyalist tendencies improved the oppor- 
tunity to harangue those present — not a dozen, we dare venture to 
affirm, author, officers and all other attendants — on the oppressive- 
ness of the taxes and the hopelessness of a contest unequal and 
causing so much destitution and distress, and to follow his diatribe 
with the offering of one of these objectionable votes, for which he 
succeeded in obtaining the sanction of the meeting. That the 
mean, trickish and brazen-faced have, always and everywhere, been 
found in society is as strikingly true as is the declaration of Holy 
Writ, "The poor always ye have with you," and these mean, trickish 
and brazen-faced ones, loud-voiced and meddlesome, are always 
ready to dictate to others in regard to their duties and obligations, 
themselves shrinking from all personal responsibility ; are always 
wonderfully public-spirited when the measure they advocate will 
help them to prominent and remunerative positions, but conscien- 
tiously opposed to every such measure when it is to be carried out 
without magnifying their own importance or putting money into their 
own tills. Somehow it very frequently happens that such individ- 
uals, although almost universally distrusted and despised, manage, 
through appeals to personal prejudice or some other dishonorable 
method, to secure for themselves prominence and influence, which 
in a vast majority of cases are exerted mischievously and against 
the best interest of society. 

We attribute these offensive votes to such influence. Does any 
one doubtingly inquire — why, then, did not the majority, in full 



148 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

meeting, disavow and expunge from the records declarations so 
strongly tinctured with peevishness and fault-finding? We cannot 
deny the pertinency of the inquiry and we admit that any attempt to 
answer it satisfactorily would be fruitless; nevertheless we are 
unwilling to believe that the inhabitants of the First and Second 
Parishes in Wells, or any considerable number of them, ever really 
sanctioned these votes, indicating, as they do, an almost heartless 
lack of appreciation of the privations and sufferings of their friends 
and neighbors who were on battlefields, or of sympathy for their 
families or near relatives at home who were eking out a precarious 
livelihood in their immediate vicinity. If there were, occasionally, 
during the long and bitterly contested conflict votes adopted at town 
meetings indicating weariness and petulancy, they were exceptional; 
there never was really any abiding lack of sympathy for the soldier, 
nor the slightest disposition to withhold aid from or to take any 
backward step in the glorious work in which the Colonies were 
engaged. If in hours of despondency and irritation they used lan- 
guage unworthy patriotic citizens, perhaps some apology is found 
for them in the details of their embarrassments and trials, but no 
exonerating excuse can be imagined that can satisfactorily and 
entirely erase the stain which in consequence of their acts disfigures 
their records. 

It is unfortunate that public mention was ever made of these 
votes, but inasmuch as this has been done, without the slightest 
idea, we are sure, that it was of doubtful expediency to do so, they 
can work no other harm than slightly tarnish the excellent reputa- 
tion richly earned during the Revolutionary struggle by the First 
and Second Parishes of Wells. The subject would not have been 
mentioned here were it not for fear that, if permitted to pass with- 
out comment, gross injustice might be done by charging the action 
complained of to the people of Wells, while a very small number of 
its inhabitants were responsible therefor, and those unknown, without 
supporters, and we think we may safely say without respectability. 

Of the thousands who fled, with maledictions on the Patriots, 
from New England to Canada, and sought protection on undisputed 
British soil, one only went from Wells. A few well-wishers to the 
cause, but lacking faith in its success and sadly deficient in courage> 
left the town for secluded interior settlements, where they hoped to 
avoid "war's alarms," and a few others, influenced by self-interest 
or because they were believers in the divine right of kings, at heart 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 149 

Loyalists, remained at their homes, but with sealed lips. Very 
few towns, especially on the seaboard, evidenced greater unanimity 
than did the town of Wells in the hearty support of the doctrines 
and measures of the outspoken leaders of those who labored for 
the freedom of the Colonies from English domination. 

We are abundantly sustained by the records of the town and 
by unquestioned tradition when we affirm that there never was a 
time, from the date of the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor 
to the close of the great conflict, when the town of Wells could be 
classed with the doubtful or the lukewarm ; its inhabitants (except- 
ing, perhaps, a minority so insignificant in numbers and standing as 
to be unworthy consideration) were among the earliest to second, 
decidedly and nobly, the patriotic and revolutionary utterances at 
their Colony's capital, through committees of correspondence and 
well-considered resolutions, and when the hour for hostile and deci- 
sive action came, the call to arms here found capable and intrepid 
officers, brave and efficient soldiers, ready and willing to take their 
position at the front and to share the labors and dangers of the strife. 

Our information is exceedingly defective in regard to persons 
who enlisted or were drafted for service in the Continental Army 
from the town of Wells. It is greatly to be regretted that so few 
muster rolls and other documents relating to men and events of that 
period have been preserved. It is not possible at this day to obtain 
a complete list of those who, at different dates during the war, 
occupied the proud position of soldiers in the great contest for the 
country's freedom. We wish it were in our power to present such a 
list to our readers, and also the date when each one of the number 
joined the army, in whose company and regiment he belonged, his 
compensation, where he was stationed and in what battles or skir- 
mishes he participated ; the names of those who were killed in 
action or died of disease, of those discharged as invalids or taken 
prisoners, all of which would form an interesting chapter in our 
town history; and these details would be doubly valuable if there 
could be added to them personal narratives and reminiscences writ- 
ten or dictated by those who were in active service. Muster rolls of 
companies raised to reinforce the army at Cambridge, in 1775, and 
for service on the coast and in other quarters have been preserved, 
but these are not accompanied by those details that would be highly 
prized, not only by descendants of the patriotic men who were 
among the earliest to rally in support of the rights of the Colonists, 
but by a large majority of other citizens. 



150 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



We give the names of the soldiers in these companies who went 
into service from the Second Parish. Those marked thus * are 
presumed to have been residents in this parish, but it is not posi- 
tively known that they were. The following enlisted for the term 
of eight months in the company of Capt. James Hubbard and pro- 
ceeded to Cambridge, where they remained until their term of service 
expired. Captain Hubbard died while at Cambridge. 

Emmons, Obediah, 
Gillpatrick, James, 
Gillpatrick, Joshua, 
Gooch, Jedediah, 



James Hubbard, Captain, 
Joseph Churchill, Lieutenant, 
Nathaniel Cousens, Lieutenant, 
Stephen Larrabee, Sergeant, 



Samuel Burnham, Sergeant, 
John Butland, Sergeant, 
Thomas Wormwood, Corporal, 
Remich Cole, Corporal, 
Richard Gillpatrick, Corporal, 
Jacob Blaisdell, Fifer, 
John Webber, Drummer, 
Banks, Jonathan, 
Boothby, John, Jr., 

*Chadbourne, Samuel, 
Colburn, Rowlins, 
Cousens, Joseph, 
Currier, Edmund, 

*Dagget, Joseph, 
Denney, John, Jr., 
Emery, Job, 



*Goodwin, Batholomew, 
Hubbard, Dimon, 
Kimball, John, 
Littlefield, Abraham, 
Littlefield, Joseph, 
Littlefield, Jotham, 
Maddox, Henry, 

*Magner, John, 
Ross, John, 

*Storer, Amos, 
Waterhouse, Samuel, 
Webber, Benjamin, 
Webber, John, Jr., 
Wormwood, Abner, 
Wormwood, Benjamin, 
Wormwood, John. 



The following were in Capt. Samuel Sawyer's company, who 
enlisted for the same length of time and w-ere also stationed at Cam- 
bridge. Quite a number of these soldiers, at the expiration of the 
eight months for which they entered service, re-enlisted for one 
year. We think the members of this company named below 
belonged in the Second Parish. 

Barnes, Abraham, 
Day, Nathaniel, 
Jellison, William, 
Mitchell, John, 
Wormwood, Eli, 
Wormwood, James. 



Samuel Stevens, Ensign, 
John Littlefield, Sergeant, 
Joel Stevens, Corporal, 
Nathan Kimball, Corporal, 
Joshua Taylor, Drummer, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 151 

Of these, Stevens, ensign, re-enlisted for one year, as did Jona- 
than Banks, James Gillpatrick and Amos Storer, who had been in 
Captain Hubbard's company. Nathaniel Butland also joined the 
company. 

Capt. Jesse Dorman, of Arundel, commanded a company in 
Col. Scamman's regiment at Cambridge in 1776. Ezekiel Wake- 
field, sergeant, John Hubbard and Abijah Wormwood, privates, 
were among those who enlisted with him and it is believed were 
residents in the Second Parish. Bradbury says of Dorman : " He 
was not without perils in war or in peace. In 1793 a violent tor- 
nado unroofed his house, and he with his bed and bedding was 
blown several rods from it. Three of his sons were in the army. 
He was a lieutenant in the old French war and wounded in the 
battle of Lake George in 1758."^ 

A regiment commanded by Col. John Frost, of Kittery, marched 
from Maine, in December, 1776, to Peeks Hill, in the State of New 
York. John Grant, then of Berwick, but subsequently of Kenne- 
bunk, was quartermaster of this regiment and Daniel Sewall, then 
of York, but afterward a resident of Kennebunk, was quartermaster 
sergeant. 

Benjamin Lord, Dominicus Lord and Thomas Huff, soldiers in 
the Continental Army, resided in Arundel at the time of their enlist- 
ment, but became inhabitants of Kennebunk before the close of 
the war. 

Tobias Lord (son of Tobias who came to Arundel from Rocky 
Hill, Berwick, in 1747) was captain of a company stationed at Fal- 
mouth (now Portland) in 1776. He died about 1807, aged 84. 
Five sons were in the army at different periods of the war ; one of 
them was wounded and died at Quebec. 

^A story of which Captain Dorman was the hero and which was universally- 
credited was current in the boyhood days of the writer. The Captain was griev- 
ously afflicted with rheumatism. One bitterly cold morning he experienced great 
difficulty in getting out of bed and dressing; his old assailant was at his worst 
with cramps, aches and stiffness. He had been told that he needed, to effect a 
cure, "a sudden shock to the system, something to stir the blood thoroughly." 
The Captain bethought himself of this remedy and determined to give it a trial. 
Accordingly, as soon as his limbs became flexible, he started for the ocean, some 
four or five miles distant from his home, and did not halt until he was so far into 
the water that the breakers went over his head. After remaining there a few 
minutes, he retraced his steps and reached home with all his clothing completely 
frozen. Throwing aside his wet garments, giving his body a brisk rubbing and 
putting on dry clothes, he was at once "as lissome as a boy." He lived many 
years after this cold sea- water bath, but was never again visited by rheumatism. 
He died about 1800. 



152 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Tobias Lord, son of the foregoing, "resided at Moulton's Mills 
and was drafted from Sanford. He was a lieutenant in Capt. James 
Littlefield's company of Colonel Storer's regiment at the capture of 
Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, in 1777. He died at Kennebunk in 
1808." 

Capt. Joshua Nason, of Arundel, was at the capture of Bur- 
goyne's army. He commanded a company in Colonel Storer's regi- 
ment at White Plains and Saratoga ; three of his sons were in the 
same service, one of them a commissioned officer. He died about 
1809. 

Nathaniel Wakefield was a soldier in Capt. Josiah Davis's 
company. Colonel Prime's regiment, stationed at Portland in 1780. 
He died in 1836. 

"An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and 
naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War," which 
gave to non-commissioned officers, musicians, mariners, marines or 
private soldiers, who served in the war for the term of nine months 
or longer, a pension of eight dollars per month for life, became a 
law March 18, 1818. This was the first general pension law passed 
by Congress; it applied, however, only to persons "in reduced 
circumstances." 

The following is a list of the surviving ofiicers and soldiers of 
the Revolutionary War residing in Wells in April, 1818. We have 
endeavored to make separate lists of those belonging to the First 
and to the Second Parishes, but do not claim that they are per- 
fectly accurate. 

First Parish. Second Parish. 

Annis, Stephen, Bourne, John, 

Bragdon, John, Cousens, Nathaniel, Maj., 

Butland, Nathan, Drown, Moses, 

Eaton, William, Emerson, Samuel, Dr., 

Goodwin, Paul, Emery, Job, 

Hatch, Elijah, Fisher, Jacob, Dr., 

Houston, John, Jr., Gillpatrick, James, 

Littlefield, Noah, Gen., Gillpatrick, Joseph, 

Ragnos, Samuel, Gooch, Jedediah, 

Ricker, Stephen, Grant, John, 

Sawyer, Nathaniel, Jones, Thomas, 

Stone, Isaac, Kimball, Nathan, 

Wheelwright, Samuel, Littlefield, Anthony, 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 



153 



Whitehouse, Samuel, 
Whitehouse, Stephen. 

All the foregoing were 
in service more than nine 
months. 

The following were in 
the service nine months. 

Fish, Abner, 
Kimball, Benjamin, 
Morrison, Benjamin, 
Morrison, Josiah, 
Penny, Benjamin, 
Sherman, Isaac, 
Treadwell, Samuel, 
Warden, Thomas. 



Littlefield, Jotham, 
Littlefield, Moses, 
Norman, John, 
Osborn, James, 
Thompson, David, 
Thompson, Richard, 
Towne, Joseph, 
Treadwell, Nathaniel, 
Varney, Francis, 
Webber, Jonathan, 
Wise, Daniel. 

All the foregoing were 
in service i7iore than nine 
months. 



The following were in 
the service nine months. 
Butland, John, 
Littlefield, Jacob, 
Shackford, Paul, 
Stevens, Moses. 
At a town meeting held in Wells on the twenty-seventh day of 
April, 1780, "the Declaration of Rights and Frame of the Constitu- 
tion formed and agreed upon by the Convention of this State was 
read, and thereupon the persons hereafter named were chosen a 
Committee to consider of the same and make report to the town." 
It is fair to presume that this committee was made up of the "lead- 
ing men of the town " at the time ; we insert their names with pre- 
fixes and suffixes : The Rev. Mr. Moses Hemmenway, the Rev. Mr. 
Daniel Little, Capt. Nathaniel Kimball, Mr. John Mitchell, Maj. 
Samuel Waterhouse, Mr. Benjamin Stevens, Nathaniel Wells, Esq., 
John Wheelwright, Esq., Dea. Benjamin Hatch, Mr. Amos Storer, 
Mr. John Maxwell, Mr. Jonathan Hatch, Capt. James Littlefield, Jr., 
Mr. Jeremiah Littlefield, third, Capt. Joseph Bragdon, Mr. Jere- 
miah Stevens, Capt. Hans Patten, Col. John Littlefield, Mr. Aaron 
Clark, Capt. Joseph Winn. The Rev. Mr. Hemmenway, as chair- 
man, made a report at a subsequent meeting which was unanimously 
adopted, seventy-four voters being present. The report was a long 
but a very able document. 

The first State election for the choice of governor, lieutenant 
governor and two counselors and senators under the new constitu- 



154 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

tion was held on the fourth day of September, 1780. The votes in 
Wells for governor were eleven for James Bowdoin and seven for 
John Hancock; for lieutenant governor, ten for Hancock and five 
for Bowdoin; for two counselors and senators, Rushworth Jordan, 
fifteen, Nathaniel Wells, thirteen, scattering, four, 

A vote of the town, at a meeting held July 19, 1781, levying a 
tax upon the inhabitants of "eleven hundred pounds hard money," 
concludes as follows: "and for making up any deficiency which has 
or may arise in former grants, by reason of the depreciation of the 
old continental currency, which tax shall be paid either in hard 
money or bills of credit of the new emission, resting on the funds of 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at the rate of one dollar and 
seven-eighths of a dollar in said bills in lieu of one hard dollar." 

On the first Monday in April, 1782, the second State election 
was held. John Hancock received thirty-one votes, the whole num- 
ber thrown in Wells for governor, and Thomas Gushing, for lieu- 
tenant governor, thirty-one ; for counselors and senators, Nathaniel 
Wells, twenty-one, Benjamin Chadbourn, fifteen, Edward Cutts, 
fifteen, and John Frost, three. 

The inhabitants of Wells, on the first Monday in October, 1790, 
gave in their votes for a representative of the District of York, 
Cumberland, Lincoln, Washington and Hancock. Nathaniel Wells 
received twenty-nine and George Thacher two votes. At a second 
trial, in November, Wells received one hundred and twenty-three 
and Thacher five votes. At a third trial, January, 1791, Wells had 
one hundred forty-one and Thacher five votes. A fourth trial, in 
April, resulted as follows: Wells, one hundred four votes, Thacher, 
four, scattering, two, which resulted in the choice of Wells. 

In November, 1792, the inhabitants of Wells gave in their 
votes "for three Representatives of the District of York, Cumber- 
land, Lincoln, Hancock and Washington, one of whom being resi- 
dent in the County of York, one in Cumberland and one in other 
parts of said District, to represent said District in Congress": 
(i) Nathaniel Wells had seventy-nine votes, George Thacher, nine. 
(2) Daniel Davis had fifty-four votes, David Mitchell, fifteen. (3) 
Henry Dearborn received forty-five votes, William Lithlow, twenty- 
one and Thomas Rice, twenty. 

The said inhabitants also gave in their votes for three electors 
of president and vice president for the district above-named ; eight 
persons were voted for; thirty-eight of one hundred and sixteen 
votes thrown were cast for Icabod Goodwin, Esq., the remainder for 
other candidates. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ROADS. 

Satisfactory evidence is found in ancient documents that as 
early as 1670 there was a path through the woods from Say ward's 
mill lot to the mouth of Kennebunk River, the initial of the present 
road from Mousam River, by way of Garden Street, thence to and 
through the Landing village by way of Towne's Bridge to John 
Mitchell's land and beyond. 

July I, 1679, the lot layers of Wells laid out a highway for the 
use of the town, six rods wide, "above the boom belonging to the 
[Mousam] mills and a stake drove down there near to a little old 
house upon the said land," (near the present residence of Mrs. J. W. 
Sargent), and so down by said mills to the landing place, and 
thence about twenty rods down the river to the "old stump" and 
"Rand's marsh." 

May 17, 168 1, grantees of land on Kennebunk River were 
required to leave four rods in width, the entire breadth of their lots, 
for a highway, but not till 1730 did the selectmen of Wells formally 
lay out the road |thus provided for, beginning at the southwest side 
of Kennebunk River, fourscore rods up the river from the falls and 
mill standing thereon, and so down by the river eight rods wide 
"till it comes to the common flowing of the salt water to a landing 
place there, commonly called the Upper Landing Place." 

May 14, 1692, the town voted that the grantees of the mill 
privilege at the Great Falls on Mousam River have "liberty and 
privilege of a convenient road . . . for the conveniency to trans- 
port to the salt water." This "liberty and privilege" was at once 
improved and a road was marked out and cleared, "fit for foot and 
cart," which we should infer followed a beaten path then existing; it 
does not appear, however, that it was regularly located. In 1720 
the proprietors voted "that there be a road laid out from Coxhall 
down to old Mousam, as near as may be where the old road now 
goes, four rods wide." In 1765 the selectmen laid out a highway 
beginning at Coxhall line, near the head of the great gully, 
thence running down southeast to the road that goes from L^^pper 
(Middle) Mousam down to the mill pond above Mousam Mill, as 

155 



156 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

formerly laid out, and from said mill pond down to the country road 
at the heath (the cross road from Wakefield's at the Landing to 
Butland's on Sea Road), four rods wide from mill pond to the 
country road. 

In 1 7 13 and subsequent years, until a highway was formally 
laid out, grantees below William Larrabee, Jr., were required to 
leave four rods in width the entire breadth of their lots for a road. 

In description of the bounds of a lot of land surveyed in 174a 
we find: "on the southeast side of the road which leads to the 
saw-mill on the northern branch of Little River " ; and in another 
surveyor's description of bounds, in 1743, we find: "lying a little 
below the Branch Mill, beginning at the lower side of the bridge, 
running down to the road that leads to the mill"; in 177 1, a high- 
way was laid out "from Little River Mill to Branch Mill and from 
the Branch Mill to the town road leading to Upper Mousam Mill." 

In 17 19, by order of Court, a jury consisting of twelve persons 
laid out a highway from Cape Neddock River to Saco Falls, through 
Wells, following the old path to Cole's Hill, Little River, Harri- 
seeket to Mousam River and then "to Kennebunk River to the 
usual wading place below the mill, thence keeping the old road to 
Saco Lower Falls below the old fort." Marshall in his address at 
York says: "As early as 1699 I find a record of a country road 
from Wells, through Cape Neddock and York Village, to Berwick," 

February 28, 1752, the town voted "that there shall be a road 
from the sea, up by John Webber's and Dr. Sayer's land and by the 
head of land of John Storer until it comes to land of John Butland 
and athwart as the old way goes to Nathaniel Wakefield's house 
[the cross road beginning a few rods below Robert Hatch's and 
running to the Port road, near the Brookings dwelling] and the old 
road to the meeting-house [at the Landing], and from the meeting- 
house as the old East road goes up by the easterly side of Thomas 
Cousens's house [on lot now Nathan Dane's homestead] to the 
country road" [the main thoroughfare from the west to Saco]. 

September 7, 1759, selectmen laid out a highway from Adam 
Ross's land on a south-southeast course, nearest as the old road now 
goes to the lower side of land of Samuel Littlefield, Jr., then running 
south-southwest nearest between Deacon Stephen Larrabee's and 
said Littlefield's lands to the mill lot and so on to Alewive Bridge, 
and thence south-southwest to Paul Shackford's property, between 
John Maddox's and Richard Thompson's land, so down by said 
Shackford's land to the old path, and thence to a small run in Colonel 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 157 

Storer's mile square, then taking a south-southwest course to the 
road from the Great Falls and down said road to the Lower 
Mousam Mills, thence by the northeast side of Mousam River to 
Mousani Landing, where the salt water flows, and from said Mousam 
Mills the present thoroughfare to the meeting-house (at the Land- 
ing), past Mr. John Mitchell's land to the "Lower road [the Beach 
road], to be kept with gates or bars," then from land of Richard 
Boothby till it comes to Joseph Sayer's land, running equally between 
Webber and Sayer the length of said Sayer's line, by Mousam River 
to Colonel Storer's land, above the head of a great gully, and by said 
Storer's lower line to the road below James Hubbard's. 

1760, the road was laid out, as formerly, from the top of Cole's 
Hill, by Samuel Clark's line, five rods wide, running northwest till 
it comes to the road that leads to Little River Mill, and thence as 
the road now goes to the bridge above said mill. 

1 761, there was laid out a highway from country road, near 
William Day's, to Daniel Littlefield's house, continuing northwest till 
it comes to land of John Cousens, Jr., near a small stone, then 
northerly by said Cousens's land to his southeast corner bounds, 
taking a northwesterly course to the river, about twenty rods above 
the second Mousam mill, crossing the river to the mill road running 
to the northwest corner of Obediah Littlefield's land, then thirty rods 
by said Littlefield's land, thence southeast to old Mousam road. 
This highway was laid out in compliance with a petition, dated 
February 21, 1761, for a road from old Mousam road to the second 
Mousam mill and thence to the country road. This is interesting, as it 
gives the names of the residents in the Cat Mousam, West Kenne- 
bunk and Alewive districts at that date : 

John Cousens, Anthony Littlefield, 

John Cousens, Jr., Daniel Littlefield, 

Benjamin Day, Obediah Littlefield, 

William Day, Samuel Littlefield, 

John Gillpatrick, Jr., Samuel Littlefield, Jr. 

Samuel Gillpatrick, John Maddox, 

Nathaniel Kimball, Benjamin Stevens, 

Stephen Larrabee, Jr., John Wakefield, Jr. 

This petition was also signed by Samuel Storer, John Cole, 
Samuel Jefferds, John Gooch and Nathaniel Clark, Jr., who were 
not inhabitants of the Second Parish, but interested in lands in the 
vicinity of the proposed road. 



158 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

A town meeting was held May 20, 177 i, to consider the peti- 
tion of Edmund Currier, Joseph Hobbs and Ebenezer Rice that the 
town would discontinue the whole or any part of the road from the 
lower mill on Mousam River and by said river to a certain place 
formerly made use of for landing boards, etc., and make a grant of 
the same to said petitioners, together with the right of the town to 
the falls on that side of the river, for such compensation as may be 
"thought fit," for the purpose of "building an Iron Works or other 
mills." The town voted to discontinue three rods of said road (six 
rods wide) next to the river to within ten rods of the landing place, 
said discontinued part of the road to be granted to the petitioners, 
"they paying so much for the privilege as shall be thought reason- 
able." The committee made a verbal report at an adjourned meet- 
ing, a week later, that the aforesaid privilege, "if any right they 
have," is worth five pounds. Then a vote was put whether they accept 
it and it was passed in the negative. As there is no record of any 
further proceedings on the part of the town in reference to this peti- 
tion, it has been supposed that the project failed, but it was not so. 
Documents exist which render it certain that this vote was not the 
final action of the town in regard to the subject, and this, in con- 
nection with subsequent transactions, leaves little room for doubt 
that at the same meeting the whole matter was left to the selectmen 
with the understanding that the transference asked for might be 
granted, provided the compensation therefor should considerably 
exceed the sum just proposed to the meeting and by it voted to be 
unsatisfactory. It is not known what were the terms agreed upon, 
but there is ample proof that such conveyance was made. Inter- 
esting facts relating to this matter will be found in the chapter fol- 
lowing in the account given of the old iron works. Doubtless the 
whole proceeding was illegal. The committee made only a verbal 
report and no action of the town relating to this matter appears on 
the records, while votes of the town, at subsequent dates, make no 
reference to it in any form. 

177 1, there was laid out a road beginning at Thomas Goodwin's 
dwelling, running nearly as the road now goes to the lowest Little 
River mill privilege, and over the river north-northeast to Samuel 
Wells's land, then northeast by south to the house of John Maddox, 
Jr., then northeasterly to that of Nathaniel Gould, thence to the 
bridge adjoining Joshua Clark's marsh and over the marsh to the 
"common and undivided land." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 159 

It appears that the bridge over Kennebunk River built in 1772 
was not the first built over that stream. Bradbury says that 
*'Durreirs Bridge was built before 1751." In the warrant for town 
meeting in Wells dated May 16, 1765, is the following item: 

" To consider a petition of a number of the inhabitants of said 
town [of Wells] that the town will accept of a bridge lately built 
over Kennebunk River, adjoining to land of Messrs. Walker and 
Wakefield, and acknowledge said bridge as a town bridge, and also 
a road from said bridge to the town road by the Rev. Mr. Little's 
meeting-house" [then at the Landing]. In the clerk's record of the 
proceedings at this meeting no allusion is made to this article ; that 
it was called up and S07tie action had upon it there can be no doubt, 
but whether favorable or adverse we are left to conjecture. 

March 20, 1775, town accepts road leading through Alewive, 
beginning at a stone one rod from the eastern corner of Paul Shack- 
ford's fence, thence to northern corner of Obediah Littlefield's 
fence, by said Littlefield's to the town road leading to Upper Ale- 
wive ; and also a road beginning at the town way near Mile Spring 
(so-called), in the dividing line between the lands of Joseph Storer 
and Ebenezer Rand, running northeast and east to lands of the 
widow Anna Shackley and the widow Mary Kimball, passing 
between the lands of said widows to James Ross's land, then south- 
east to lands of Nathaniel and Richard Kimball, and thence to the 
highway between the dwelling-houses of said Kimballs. Each road 
was three rods wide. 

March 22, 1779, the town accepts highway laid out on petition 
of Jonathan Taylor, Samuel Stevens, Samuel Mitchell, Thomas 
Wormwood, John Cousens, Jr., Daniel Hatch, Daniel Taylor, 
Nathaniel Cousens, Benjamin Stevens and Nathaniel Hatch, begin- 
ning at county road, three rods east of Major Cousens's house (on 
west side of Mousam River), running north-northwest to bridge over 
Rankins's Creek, thence to Thomas Cousens's land till it comes up 
abreast of the High Landing, so-called, then northwest by west till 
it comes to the old road, which lies on the east side of said line, 
thence running as the road now goes till it comes to that leading to 
Middle Mousam Bridge; three rods wide. 

December 5, 1780, laid out highway beginning at house of John 
Cousens, Jr., thence to brook between lands of John and Samuel 
Cousens, thence west-southwest and southwest to check of land laid 
out to heirs of Samuel Hatch and by said check to the commons 
and to Jonathan Littlefield's land. 



160 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Mach 25, 1785, laid out private way for use of Major Samuel 
Waterhouse, beginning at Adam Ross's southeast corner bounds, on 
highway, and running by lands of Adam and James Ross and others 
to corner of said Samuel Waterhouse's dwelling. 

April 2 1, 1785, renewed bounds of road from Adam Ross's land, 
upon a southeast course, nearest as the old highway now goes to 
the lower side of land of Samuel Littlefield, Jr., then south-southwest 
nearest between lands of Stephen Larrabee, Jr., and heirs of Deacon 
Richard Kimball, equally, till it comes to that in possession of Capt. 
John Taylor, running between said Taylor's and Larrabee's lands 
over Alewive Bridge, and equally between Richard Thompson's and 
John Maddox's lands to the crotch of the road, till it comes to the 
second run in the mile square, then south-southwest to the road that 
comes from the Great Falls; three rods wide. 

September 11, 1786, laid out highway beginning at Capt. James 
Ross's and at the town road, running between Ross's land and land 
of John Shackley, Jr., till it comes to Isaac and Nathaniel Kimball's 
lands and through them to the river, then up the river through said 
lands to land of Joel Larrabee, nearly as the road now goes, to 
John Shackley's land and to the south side of his woodshed, then to 
northwest side of his lot and northeast to a tree, turning in a north- 
westerly direction nearly as the path now goes through lands of John 
Taylor and Stephen Larrabee, Jr., to the county road; three rods wide. 

May 12, 1794, town accepts highway beginning at the town 
way between lands of Ebenezer Coburn and Joel Larrabee, running 
southerly to Joseph Cousens's land, then between said Cousens's 
and Joseph Gillpatrick's lands out to the lane near Cousens's house, 
then through said Gillpatrick's land to Thomas Jones's land, to 
David Thompson's land, and across lands of Jones and Cousens to 
Mousam road ; two rods wide. 

May 2, 1796, town accepts road laid out on the petition of 
William Wormwood and others, beginning at Mousam Bridge, run- 
ning southwest seventeen rods to or near William Jefferds's house, 
thence west and southwest ninety-nine rods, southeast ninety-five 
rods, southwest twenty-eight rods, southeast fifty-nine rods, south- 
west thirty-four rods to or near One Mile Brook ; thence southeast 
one hundred fifty rods, southwest one hundred forty-seven rods to 
Henry Hart's land, southwest twenty-seven rods to Great Swamp, 
so-called; thence southwest one hundred seventy-one rods to 
"Gould's Causey"; four rods wide. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 161 

May, 1796, town accepts road beginning at a large rock by the 
watering brook near Ebenezer Coburn's house, thence running 
northerly one hundred twenty-four rods to the middle of the bridge 
at the end of the upper Kennebunk saw-mill ; two rods wide. 

A petition was presented at the August term (1796) of the 
"Court of General Sessions of the peace, then sitting at Waterbor- 
ough, within and for York County," praying "for a highway to be 
laid out from the meeting-house at Kennebunk on a direct line to 
the road that leads to Alfred, to intersect the same about three-quar- 
ters of a mile from Mousam Bridge " ; whereupon the Court then 
appointed a committee "to view the premises and consider the 
expediency of laying out the same," which committee reported at a 
session of the Court held November 12, 1796, "that a highway to 
be laid out as aforesaid will be of common convenience and utility," 
and the Court appointed Ichabod Goodwin, John Hovey, Jacob 
Bradbury, Joshua Hubbard and Joseph Chadbourn a committee to 
lay out said highway. This committee reported to the Court, Octo- 
ber 10, 1797, that they had "laid out the road, as directed, through 
Mr. Joseph Storer's land, beginning at a stake set up near Mr, 
Osborne's house, and runs north fifty-three degrees, west one hun- 
dred and thirty-six rods to the road leading to Alfred, which line is 
the middle of the road, one and a half rods on each side of said 
line." Mr. Storer was awarded two hundred dollars for damages. 
This report was objected to by the town agent of Wells.^ After- 
ward an agreement was made in writing between the said agent and 
the petitioners for the road, "that Wells will withdraw its objection, 
provided the petitioners will agree to make the road, at their own 
expense, passable, safe and convenient for travelers and teamsters, 
giving to the town sufficient security for the faithful performance of 
their agreement, the sufficiency of said security" and of "the pass- 
ableness, etc., of said road to be to the satisfaction and approbation 
of John Storer, Nathaniel Cousens and Benjamin Titcomb; . . . 
and Stephen Larrabee and John Taylor, in behalf of the petitioners, 
agree to perform the conditions aforesaid." The road was made 
passable during the year 1798. The town of Wells paid the damage 
awarded to Mr. Storer. 

This is the highway (Fletcher Street) running from the main 
road (Main Street) at the Osborne store (as it formerly stood) to its 

' The town agent was instructed by the town, November 6, 1797, " to oppose the 
acceptance of a highway ordered to be laid out from the meeting-house in the 
Second Parish, in said town, acrost Mr. Joseph Storer's field or meadow." 

U 



162 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

intersection with the Alfred road, opposite P. C. Wiggin's dwelling- 
house. 

November 5, 1798, town accepts highway, laid out on petition 
of Isaac Emery and others, leading from the county road by Capt. 
John Brown's dwelling-house to John Mitchell's residence, begin- 
ning at the west corner of said Brown's dwelling (since known as 
the Kilham house, now owned and occupied by Charles F. Tarbox), 
leaving said county road three rods in width and running southwest 
twenty rods, opposite the southwest corner of the schoolhouse, then 
seventy-five rods to Mr. Titcomb's land, passing his house and 
orchard, fifty-six rods to John Fisk's land, eighty-five rods to Jacob 
Towne's land, nine rods to the middle of the bridge, thence through 
Towne's and Fisk's lands to that of Maddox, and so on to Samuel 
Towne's homestead and Mitchell's land, then to Captain Emery's 
residence and Job Emery's land, continuing through lands owned 
by Harding, Emery and Gooch, thence to John Mitchell's land, to 
his well; said highway to be three rods wide, "excepting the twenty- 
six rods passing Titcomb's house and orchard to be two and a half 
rods wide." 

At a town meeting held in April, 1800, "a committee was 
appointed to examine Mousam River Bridge and report whether it 
is necessary to build a bridge over that in 1801, and if necessary in 
what manner and with what materials it shall be built." A com- 
mittee was also appointed to confer with the town of Arundel 
respecting the building of a bridge over Kennebunk River, on the 
upper road; and another to confer with said town respecting the 
building of the lower bridge over Kennebunk River (Durrell's 
Bridge) and "fixing a draw" thereto, and that the selectmen be 
directed to appropriate such sums as they think proper^to the build- 
ing of the latter. (This bridge was rebuilt with a drawer in 1801.) 
At the same meeting a special tax of eight hundred dollars was 
raised, to be applied to the erecting and repairing of bridges. 

"The Turnpike." We do not find a record of the selectmen's 
return of the laying out of the road from Cole's Corner to Tavern 
Hill, usually spoken of as the turnpike, nor of its acceptance by the 
town. We cannot account for these omissions, inasmuch as the 
road was an important one and the building of it was strongly 
resisted by many of the inhabitants of Wells, especially those living 
at Harriseeket and the Branch. It was undoubtedly laid out in 
1801 or 1802 and built in 1803 and 1804. The following notes are 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 163 

all we find in reference to it. May 7, 1804, it was voted that 
" Henry Hart, John Storer and Jacob Fisher be appointed a com- 
mittee to draught a petition to the Court of general sessions of the 
peace to discontinue the road laid out from Benjamin Boothby's to 
Maj. William Jefferds's." It is not probable that this committee 
took any action in the matter. At a meeting held in April, 1805, 
the whole subject seems to have been finally disposed of by the 
adopting of the following: "On a representation respecting the 
new highway leading from Major Jefferds's to Benjamin Boothby's, 
Voted, that for advances in clearing said highway and building 
bridges that the selectmen do what is just and right," which was 
supplemented, at a subsequent meeting, by an explanatory vote 
"that the selectmen be judges of the value of the materials and 
labor done on the road." 

The selectmen were directed by the town, in May, 18 10, "to 
open or cause to be opened the townway from lower Mousam saw- 
mill to the landing place on Mousam River, at the head of tide 
water." (Mr. Joseph Storer had put up a fence, with bars, across 
the road, just below Mayall and Radcliff's factory.) The directions 
of the town were at once complied with. In 1815 Mr. Storer was 
permitted "to place a gate across" this road. 

May, 181 1, town accepts a road, about one hundred sixty rods 
in length, laid out on petition of Col. John Taylor and others, 
"beginning at the west corner of a lot of land formerly known as 
the Parsonage lot, by Alewive road, so-called, and near Ebenezer 
Taylor's, thence northeasterly to the middle of Kennebunk River"; 
two rods wide. 

In consequence of a dispute between Mr. Joseph Storer (joint 
owner with his brother Clement, of Portsmouth, of the land adjoin- 
ing) and the town authorities, as to their respective rights, a survey 
was made of a part of the highway on the easterly side of the 
Mousam in May, 181 1, beginning at the county road, at the easterly 
end of Mousam Bridge, and running southeast fifty-seven rods by 
the river, then as the river runs, south, five rods, and southwest, by 
the river, nine rods, then southwest thirty-four rods to the creek; 
across by the mouth of the creek southeast by the river twelve rods, 
then southeast eight rods by the river, and southwest six rods, then 
northwest twenty rods or thereabouts to the old landing or building 
yard and Joseph Storer's land to the creek, passing the landing to a 
stake in the field, thence northwest fifty-seven rods to the county 



164 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

road, and six rods to the first-mentioned bounds; six rods wide. 
The land adjoining this road, below the lower dam, was improved, 
during the warm months, as a pasture for cattle. Many persons in 
the neighborhood pastured their cows there, paying Mr. Storer for 
the privilege about nine dollars per head for the season. It was 
known until 1825 as " Storer's pasture," and thereafter as the 
"Factory pasture." 

In compliance with a petition of citizens, in 1812, the ancient 
highway from Abial Kelley's land (now Joseph Sargent's) to the sea, 
by John Butland's land, was resurveyed, widened and straightened, 
"beginning in the center of the road by Abial Kelley's house, leading 
to the sea, and running between said Kelley's barn and Daniel Wise's 
barn southwest," by said Wise's and Kelley's lands, and by lands of 
Wise, Chadbourne Kelley, Wakefield and Larrabee, then southeast 
by Larrabee's land to land of John Butland and by Butland's land 
to Joseph Gooch's land, passing said Gooch's land to Jeremiah 
Gooch's land and to his dwelling-house, "it being two miles from 
said Kelley's to said Gooch's." 

During the same year, 18 12, on petition of Joseph Gillpatrick 
and others, the selectmen laid out a highway "beginning on west 
side of Alewive road and near a ledge of rocks," between lands of 
Ebenezer Coburn and Joel Larrabee, Jr., running southwest two 
hundred seventy-six rods to a stone in the ground, being the corner 
bounds of said Larrabee and Reuben Littlefield, thence eighty-eight 
and a half rods to Elisha Cousens's land, then south seventy-three 
rods to Cousens's lane, and southeast forty-three rods, being a rod 
and a half from the westerly corner of Thomas Jones's barn, con- 
tinuing southwest forty rods and southeast one hundred ninety-three 
rods to Alfred road ; two rods wide. 

In 18 14 the selectmen laid out a "road beginning on the south 
side of the canal, a little above a small island in the same," running 
northwest and west eighty-nine rods at the foot of Great Hill, con- 
tinuing forty-four rods to a narrow beach, where the road is now 
traveled, and northwest one hundred ninety-seven rods to near the 
entrance to Widow Hart's lane, then northeast seventy-eight rods 
and northwest one hundred forty-eight rods to the road that leads 
to Kennebunk Wharf, thence seventy-eight rods, near the guidepost 
above Samuel Hart's land, thence thirty rods by Hart's field and 
twenty-six rods to the highway that leads from Gould's land to Brag- 
don's land and Kennebunk. "In part the bounds of an old road 
and in part altered and straightened the same " ; three rods wide. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 165 

"Laid out and renewed the bounds of part of an ancient road 
on the seaboard in Wells : beginning at the northeast side of Little 
River, at the upper wading place, so-called, thence southeast four- 
teen rods and northeast one hundred eleven rods to the old road, 
near pitch pine trees, thence forty-eight rods to the old road, by the 
corner of Hart's land, thence as the road runs thirty-eight rods to 
two pitch pine trees standing near the widow Hart's lane, where 
the other road intersects the same; three rods wide." Approved 
November, 1814. 

On petition of John Webber, Obadiah L. Webber, Elias Stevens, 
Obadiah Hatch, Jr., Samuel Mitchell, Ebenezer Mitchell, Philip 
Hatch, Daniel Stevens, Moses Littlefield and Aaron Littlefield, and 
representation of James Cousens, laid out highway beginning one 
and a half rods northeast from Obadiah Hatch's dwelling-house and 
running northwest by said Hatch's land, thence on different courses 
ninety-one and a half rods "to the road which has been formerly 
traveled in and now enclosed by said Cousens," thence seventy-nine 
rods by said Cousens's land till it intersects the road that crossed 
said Cousens's field, thence southwest fiifty-two rods to Daniel Stev- 
ens's land, and thence two hundred ten rods, in different courses, to 
and by John Webber's land ; three rods wide. Accepted May, 1817. 

In pursuance of a vote of the town, directing the selectmen to 
examine the pathway over Great Hill and open the same, if upon 
inquiry and on examination they have authority to do so, said 
selectmen, in October, 18 19, "surveyed an ancient road over Great 
Hill, bounded thus: beginning at a fence made across said road by 
William Jefferds, Jr., and in the bend of the road on the beach and 
running in the middle of the road (making the breadth of two rods 
on each side of the center of the road, being four rods in width), 
northeast fifty-three rods by land of said Jefferds, then southeast by 
same forty and one-half rods to a fence and stake, thence southeast 
along the seashore or wall to the end of the neck of land where 
John Gillespie lately lived." Said highway was laid out according 
to selectmen's statement and confirmed in the year 1674, and the 
courses and distances above named were confirmed by testimony of 
aged citizens present at the survey and by copies of grants of land 
bounded on the said highway. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SHIPBUILDING ON THE MOUSAM AND KENNEBUNK RIVERS KENNE- 

BUNK IRON WORKS. 

Undoubtedly the small coaster that brought the workmen, with 
their tools, builders' hardware and perhaps some of the machinery 
to be used in the erection of Sayward's shanty and mills, about 
1670, was the first vessel of considerable size that sailed upon the 
waters of the Mousam. Whether she was made fast near the large 
pine — a modicum of the stump of which is still visible, an object of 
interest to persons with antiquarian tastes — or a few rods farther 
up stream, at the foot of the falls, is not known ; probably, however, 
her sails were furled and her hatches opened at the last-named spot. 
The vicinity of the large tree, at that time, must have been marsh 
land only. 

From 1670 until 1688, when the mills were destroyed by 
the Indians, the stream was frequently visited by small coasters, 
which brought provisions and building materials, and, while the 
mills were in operation, for return cargoes carried lumber that had 
been manufactured there. The trade was almost exclusively with 
Boston. For eighteen years this miniature commerce between west- 
ern ports and Mousam Landing was carried on quite profitably to 
all the parties concerned. Littlefield's mill, on the Kennebunk, was 
in operation from 1681 to 1688, and it is reasonable to suppose that 
a part of the company's needed supplies were received at Mousam 
Landing and that they shipped a part of their manufactured lumber 
thence, although it is well known that the operators of that mill 
rafted the larger part of their lumber down the Kennebunk to a 
point below the lower falls that could be conveniently reached by 
coasters. For many years, dating from the year last above named, 
Mousam Landing was unfrequented and all signs of its former 
activity had disappeared; but about 1730 it resumed its old-time 
business aspect. Tradition says that soon after this renewal of 
trade the vicinity of the big pine and thence up river was cleared, 
the bank raised, and thenceforward it was the favorite mooring place 
of vessels. Storer's and the middle mills and that at Great Falls 

166 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 167 

furnished a large quantity of lumber for exportation, while an 
increased population created a large demand for goods of various 
descriptions. How long this landing was the resort of coasters we 
are unable to say. The channel of the Mousam was wider and 
deeper then than now, but its course was even more circuitous than 
at present. Tradition makes no reference to the existence of a 
wharf or wharves at its landing place, nor have indications been 
discovered that would authorize the inference that any such structure 
had ever been built there. The harbor at the mouth of the Kenne- 
bunk possessed obvious advantages over that at Mousam Landing; 
a wharf (Mitchell's) had been built on the west side of the river as 
early as 1753, and it can hardly be supposed that its superior facili- 
ties would long be overlooked. The great freshet in 1755 carried 
away all the mills on the Mousam. This calamity, of course, almost 
entirely destroyed the coasting trade. A few years later, when 
new mills were in operation, it is certainly within the bounds of 
probability that the lumber they exported was carted to the lower 
part of the town and shipped thence. The additional cost of cart- 
ing was more than counterbalanced by the saving in freight in con- 
sequence of the easier access to the harbor and the avoidance of the 
annoying detentions which must have been quite often experienced in 
passages up and down the Mousam. To use, however, the language 
of an old merchant at the Port, "while the Kennebunk harbor is a 
good one, it has the provoking disadvantage of requiring a foul 
weather wind to sail out of it." We think the Mousam Landing 
was not much frequented by coasters after 1755, but the loss of this 
trade was more than compensated by shipbuilding, which was pros, 
ecuted quite vigorously for a long time at the old mooring places 
and farther down the river. 

Vessels were built at Saco, Vork, Kittery and Wells many years 
before a keel was laid on the banks of the Mousam. They were 
indispensable to the settlers on the coast, and the building of them 
must have been the earliest object that engaged their attention after 
lands and dwelling places had been secured. It would be interest- 
ing to know at which of these settlements the initial of the fishing 
and coasting vessels that have been launched from the shipyards in 
these towns was built and fitted for sea, but this cannot now be 
ascertained. It is not known when the first vessel was built on the 
Mousam, although we learn from tradition that it was of small 
tonnage and built by John Butland for a gentleman belonging in 
Newburyport, Mass. The shipyard was not far below Sergeant 



168 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Larrabee's fort, but no date is given. We have no data that throw 
additional light on the subject. John Butland was in the prime of 
life in 1730, had then been employed in shipyards west of us a 
number of years, and had acquired a good knowledge of the art — 
for which we are told he possessed a natural aptitude — that war- 
ranted him in undertaking, with perfect confidence, the position of 
master builder. That he was a well-qualified and thorough workman 
is amply proved by the fact that he was subsequently employed, by 
out-of-town parties, to build several other vessels, all of which were 
launched from building yards in the vicinity of the Larrabee settle- 
ment. John Butland, Sr., was not living in 1772; his son John was 
his successor in business. He built a vessel for Joseph Churchill 
in 1773-74. Churchill was a resident of Arundel in 1773, but moved 
to Kennebunk the following year and "kept a store where George 
Wise's house now stands." His contract with Butland (which was 
evidently written by Churchill) is an interesting document. It is 
therein declared "that the sd John for the consideration hereafter 
menchand promiseth and agreas with sd Joseph to Buld and Cum- 
pletly finish sd Hull or Bodde of halve Dak topsail scooner of a 
Bout one hundred and twenty tons or ther a Bout of sd fowloring 
Dimenstions, fifty sevining futt Kiel, twenty four futt Beme and nine 
futt or ten futt Holl as said Joseph shall Derict and find all the wood 
meterials suteble for the same, Except such wood as the Block- 
maker shall stand in ned of and Deliver hir cumpletly finished 
below all forls or showls in Musum River by the fiveteenth day of 
August next insuing the sd scooner to be Bult with all Wite Oak 
above water and all good oak under water and to have two striks at 
the flour timber heads and one strik under the Wales of three inch 
Plank and all the out Bord Plank to be whit oak and not under two 
inches and a half thick, the seling plank to be of good oak, the 
Plank for the Dak to be of good whit pine of the lenth of the half 
Dak and two inches and a half thick, the Marss and Bowsplit to be 
good whit pine and of Deminshand as the sd Joseph shall derict, 
the spars of the best sprus, and the sd Joseph promiseth to pay the 
sd John two pounds thirteen shilings and four pence for each and 
every ton that sd scooner shall ton when bult, the pay to be in the 
fowloring maner, one fiveth part to be payd in cash, one quorter 
part in West indea goods, one quorter in provitions and the other 
part in English goods at as chepe a rate as the sd Joseph sales for 
cash pay, the Wes-india good and provitions to be of the fowloring 
prises — New England Rum to be tow shilings pr galon MoP at one 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 169 

shiling and eaght pence per galon, Cottin wool at one shiling and 
eaght pence per lb Coffee at one shiling and four pence pr pound 
Choclat at one shiling and six pence pr pound Corn at four shilino-s 
per bushill, Pork at four pound ten shilings and eaght pence pr 
barrill Cod Fish at seveingten shilings per quentell and the other 
articles of the provitions and Westindea goods to be at the same 
advarnse the pay to be at or before the time of delivery of the sd 
scooner. 

"And to the true and faithfuU performance of this Agremint and 
every part of the same the sd Partes bind and oblige themsilves the 
other to the other in the penel sum of four hundred pounds to be 
payd by the Parte faling to the Parte obsarveing the same. In wit- 
ness wareof the sd Partes have hereunto Interchangable set there 
hands and seals this first day of November in the thirtenth year of his 
Majasties Raign annoque Domine 1773. Joseph Churchill [L. S.]." 

Witnessed by Jacob Curtis, Jr., and Andrew Burley. 

"N. B. It is furder agred that the sd John shall be suplid 
with things as goods and pervistions as he shal corl for them." 

During the war Butland built for Newburyport parties a priva- 
teer of about two hundred and forty tons burden and fitted to carry 
fourteen guns. We cannot learn whether she was successful or 
unfortunate in her ocean experience. 

After our coasting trade had been transferred from the Mousam 
to the Kennebunk (about 1755), the neck of land south of the 
"creek" and running southwesterly from the road,— occasioning a 
bend in the river just at the foot of the falls,— which had been found 
an excellent place for piling lumber, as well as for the loading and 
unloading of coasters, was no longer needed for these purposes. It 
possessed, however, many advantages for shipbuilding and was 
used, more or less, for this industry until about 1795. Several small 
vessels were built here before the Revolutionary War, three or four 
during the war, and twelve or fifteen, here and on the opposite side 
of the river, after its close, probably nearly thirty in all. Major 
Nathaniel Cousens was the principal master builder at this point 
when not in the service of his country, but we do not know who 
held this position during the war ; as there were several carpenters 
by the name of Bourn at the western end of the town, we think it 
quite probable it was one of these. Butland was fully employed in 
his own shipyard. 

We have said in another place that the course of the Mousam 
was very circuitous; not only was this the fact, but there was a 



170 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

sand bar at its mouth which was a serious obstruction. The resi- 
dents in Mousam village very naturally viewed with regret the aban- 
donment of their "landing" and the transference of its business to 
another part of the town. To regain their former trade was an 
object which they regarded as deserving their best efforts. If the 
course of the river were changed so that it would run without impor- 
tant curvature to the sea, it was believed that facilities for its 
navigation would be secured that would materially augment its 
advantages as a harbor and for shipbuilding; thus, with its prestige 
and the making of needed improvements, such as wharves, etc., it 
would largely promote the business interests of this part of the town. 
In furtherance of this object a stock company was formed which 
procured an act of incorporation from the Massachusetts Legislature 
of 1792. This not only authorized the making of a new outlet to 
the sea, but, also, the imposition of a toll on the various descriptions 
of lumber that might form a part or the whole of the lading of 
outward-bound vessels passing through their canal. The stock was 
rapidly taken up and the work was commenced in earnest the 
following year (1793). A dam was built nearly opposite the well- 
known Henry Hart place, and the Mousam, which for unknown 
centuries had disembogued its waters into the Atlantic by Hart's 
rocks, was compelled to obey the mandates of civilization's agents, 
to yield its channel to the sands of the shore and to pass through 
an outlet formed by man, in contemptuous disregard of Nature's 
handiwork. If we could imagine a Divinity of the Rivers, offended 
by this act, we could also imagine with what sweet complacency it 
must have witnessed the failure of the plans of those who had tres- 
passed on its domain. 

Many difficulties were encountered in the prosecution of the 
work of excavating a canal from the "turn" to the sea, on the east 
side of Great Hill, but the crowning trial was in the discovery of an 
extensive ledge, which presented an insuperable obstacle to the 
fruition of the hopes of all who were interested in the undertaking, 
unless, indeed, it should be removed at enormous cost. There were, 
however, no funds obtainable for this experiment, and if there had 
been there were grave doubts as to the advisability of deepening the 
channel at an expense so great. The project was a decided failure, 
the money expended by the stockholders was a dead loss, and the 
enterprise was abandoned. If the new outlet had been made on 
the western end of Great Hill, as it was originally designed that it 
should be, no serious difficulty would have been encountered and 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUXK. 171 

it would have completely fulfilled the anticipations of its friends 
and projectors. 

It seems incredible that good business men should have com- 
menced work on the eastern end of the hill without first being 
assured of the entire feasibility of the route they had adopted; and 
it is equally surprising that, when so much was at stake and such 
an amount of available work had been done, when they knew that 
there was no serious obstruction at the westen end, and, moreover, 
that the cost would be comparatively trifling, they should have 
yielded so readily to discouragement. The modern methods of 
assessments and bond issuing could not have been in vogue in 
those days. 

To what extent this untoward event retarded the growth and 
prosperity of the village is a problem that it would be useless to 
consider. This we do know, however, that with a channel that 
would permit the ingress and egress of vessels of four hundred 
tons, or even of three hundred tons burden, with shipyards on the 
banks of the river where vessels of the largest size named could be 
built and fitted for sea, with commodious wharves, in the vicinity of 
the "creek," where vessels of all sizes under that tonnage could be 
amply accommodated, and where could be landed and whence 
could be shipped a fair proportion of all the lumber manu- 
factured at our mills or brought here from the interior towns, 
with such facilities there would have been sources of prosperity 
within the borders of the village that must have caused it 
to increase much more rapidly than it has in population and 
wealth. 

Soon after the workmen had commenced operations at the 
mouth of the river, the Storer brothers, in full confidence that a 
new and desirable outlet would be secured, contracted with Eutland 
for the building of a ship of about three hundred tons burden, which 
was completed shortly after the disastrous termination of labor on 
the canal. She was launched and taken down the river, but the 
ledge was a fearful barrier; for awhile it was believed that she could 
not be floated over it. At length, after much labor and expense, 
the obstacle was surmounted, but not without considerable damage 
to the ship. Possibly, after this mischance, a few small vessels 
were built on the river, but we think not; from that time to the 
present no attempt of the kind has been made. The navigation of 
the Mousam, through the many years that have elapsed since Storer's 



172 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

ship passed through the canal, has been confined to gondolas, 
chebacco boats and yawls. 

A short time after the canal had been excavated, Capt. Benja- 
min Dickson and one or two associates built a schooner of between 
sixty and eighty tons burden on the Two Acres; she was success- 
fully launched and was named "Two Acres." The shipyard was 
nearly opposite the present site of John R. Bean's cottage. We do 
not know what became of the vessel. 

While the events we have been narrating were in progress on 
the Mousam, the Kennebunk had been gradually increasing in 
importance as a harbor and several shipyards had been established, 
its banks affording eligible sites therefor. As we have before stated, 
a schooner was built at the Harbor in 1755. At the Landing a 
schooner was built in 1766, a sloop in 1767 ; the building of other 
small vessels followed in succeeding years ; a brig was commenced 
in 1773, the first vessel of more than one hundred tons that had 
been built on the river. After shipbuilding had been abandoned on 
the Mousam, this branch of business centered for many ensuing 
years at Kennebunk Landing ; sloops, schooners, brigs, barks and 
ships were built there, but the largest were of small tonnage com- 
pared with those that were afterward required. The first exceeding 
three hundred tons was built in 1805 ; the first exceeding four hun- 
dred tons in iSii — the Rubicon, built by William Jellerson for 
William Gray, of Boston. In 1S15 Hugh McCulloch built a ship of 
four hundred thirty-nine tons — the Sabine. No vessel exceeding 
this tonnage was built on the river until after 1820. We shall 
devote a chapter to the shipping interests of the town, after its incor- 
poration, in the second part of this work. 

The following extracts from a document that has been loaned 
the author will be interesting to many readers. 

"Kennebunk, in the District of Biddeford and Pepperelbor- 
ough, . . . Jeremiah Hill, Collector. Nov. 11, 1795." 

"James Kimball, owner of the Snow Alexander, 145 tons bur- 
then, of Kennebunk, Benj. Stone, master, bound to St. Vincents, — 
Capt. Benj. Dighton letten to freight 1 of said Snow for 8s. per ton, 
with charge of victualling and manning, port charges and pilotage. 
Witness, Charles W, Williams." 

Kennebunk and Wells had always formed a part of the Collec- 
tion District of Biddeford and Pepperelborough, with the custom 
house at Biddeford, since the establishment of collection districts 
by the Government. In 1795 the tonnage belonging to the first- 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 173 

named ports constituted much the larger part of the whole amount 
owned in the entire district. It was both inconvenient and expen- 
sive for persons in these towns who had occasion to do business at 
the custom house to travel to Biddeford^ for this purpose, and it 
was determined to petition Congress to make of them an independ- 
ent district, with the custom house at Kennebunk. A petition ask- 
ing for this action was presented in Congress in 1799, and with it 
and in support of its prayer a list of the vessels belonging to these 
ports in 1798, together with estimates of the miles of travel and 
expense to which persons therein who were engaged in navigation 
were unnecessarily subjected by the arrangement. Probably 
most of the vessels belonging to the Port of Kennebunk which 
traversed the ocean to the West Indies were built at Kennebunk 
Landing, while a few were launched on the Mousam River.'- 
A synopsis of the papers petitioning Congress we are enabled to 
furnish. 

"Thirty-six vessels are employed in the West India trade, 
which on an average make three voyages per annum, or one hundred 
and eight voyages per annum. The owners of these vessels on an 
average live twelve miles from the nearest office of entry. Neces- 
sary travel for each voyage, of owner, master and bondsmen, one 
hundred and ninety-two miles, making a total for the one hundred 
and eight voyages of twenty thousand seven hundred and thirty-six 

^The author wrote to Edward P. Buriiham, Esq., of Saco, inquiring whether 
evidence existed that at any time the custom house was located at Biddeford. 
Mr. Burnham found it difficult to obtain the desired information, but at leuKth 
"learned from Hon. John Hartley, whose wife is a granddaughter of Jeremiah 
Hill, who was collector from 1789 to I80!», that the custom house was kept, between 
these dates, at Biddeford, at the corner of the main street and that leading by 
Oapt. White's to the old bridge. Hon. George Thacher, of Biddeford. was Repre- 
sentative In the old Congress in 1788 and of the U. S. Congress from 178<i to 18(il, 
and was probably instrumental in creating and naming the district as well as in 
procuring the appointment of the first collector " [Mr. Hill]. The custom house' 
during the Revolutionary War and thereafter until 1781), was kept in Saco, under 
authority of the Massachusetts Colonial Government and of the State of Massa- 
chusetts; Nathaniel Scammon, Collector. "The two principal wharves were in 
Saco " and the most important shipyard on the river, that of James OoflHln, was 
on the Saco side, whence the larger part of the vessels built on the Saco were 
launched. 

= The names of some of the vessels belonging to Kennebunk employed in the 
West India voyages and coasting, also the average tonnage of the various craft, 
may be of interest to some. Alexandra, Almira, America, Atlantic, Betsey Jane, 
Clothier, Commerce, Despatch, Experiment, Fame, Fox, Franklin, Friendship, 
Hannah, Hope, Horation, Industry, Lively, Mercury, Morning Star, Olive, Packet, 
Panther, Paragon, Phenix, Pollas, Polly, Rainbow, Relief, Sally, Sea Flower- 
Success, Tuxton, Venus, Volan and William. Five ships were employed with an 
average of '2WA tons each, seventeen brigs average 137J4 tons, seven schooners 
average 108 tons, three sloops average tonnage 77, also one bark of HO tons. Among 
the coasters in service were nine schooners, average o5>3 tons, and four sloops 
with an average tonnage of SSH. 



174 



HISTORY OF KENNEBL'NK. 



miles." To this must be added necessaiy travel for obtaining 
documents required for exportation of goods, for endorsing and 
renewing registers and licenses, etc. Also must be added cost of 
"one day's demurrage on each voyage, expense of crew before 
permit can be obtained to break bulk, and one day after vessel is 
fit for sea to obtain clearance papers." 

The before-named petition received the favorable action of 
Congress. A new collection district, composed of the towns of 
Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells, was established in 1800, 
under the title of "Port and District of Kennebunk," and Jonas 
Clark received the appointment of collector of the customs, which 
office he continued to hold until May, 18 10. The first custom house 
was a small, one-story building, situated opposite the site of the 
dwelling-house for many years occupied by the late Joseph Porter. 
It had been built several years previous by Clark and Condy for a 
store, and was occupied by them as such perhaps eight or ten years. 
Condy, of whom very little is known, left town, it is thought, prior 
to 1800. In 1808 the above-named building was removed to the 
top of the hill, about a rod from the street, where it stood for many 
years. It was the custom house until May, 18 10, when Clark was 
succeeded in the office of collector by Joseph Storer. During 
Clark's term of office his deputies were Henry Clark (his brother) 
and Seth Burnham. 

Storer removed the custom house to his store, then the third 
one from the mill yard, on the lot between the main street and that 
now known as Garden Street. Here it remained until May 2, 1815, 
when it was removed to the Port, occupying the chambers over the 
bank, in the brick building that had then (1813) been recently 
erected by the "Kennebunk Bank" corporation. After the bank 
had relinquished business, in 183 1, the collector leased the room on 
the lower Moor which had been occupied for banking purposes. 
The Government subsequently purchased this building and paid 
therefor about eighteen hundred dollars, less than half the original 
cost. Mr. Storer held the office sixteen years. His deputy during 
the whole term was George Wheelwright. 

From iSoo to 1820 (excepting, of course, the years signalized 
by the embargo and other war-menacing measures and those during 
which the country was engaged in war with Great Britain) ship- 
building was prosecuted with considerable energy on the Kenne- 
bunk River ^ and the West India trade was active and remunerative, 

' Between the years Ism and 1H20 there -.sere built in Kennebunk thirty ships, 
ninety-seven briss, twenty-seven scliooners and eleven sloops, besides a number 
of snows, barks and boats. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 175 

The leading industries had been navigation and shipbuilding 
and both had yielded the most satisfactory returns. As they pros- 
pered, so prospered all other branches of business: farmers found a 
ready market for their surplus products ; the labor of mechanics of 
all kinds was in request; lumbermen and mill men were constantly 
employed, and traders purchased and disposed of larger stocks of 
goods than they had at any time previously been accustomed to 
handle. The great change that was wrought by the declaration of 
war cannot now be easily imagined, — the cessation of shipbuilding, 
wharves showing no signs of activity, the shipping belonging to the 
port dismantled and taken up river where it could not be seen by 
the enemy's cruisers, mechanics, seamen and laborers without em- 
ployment, the sales by farmers and traders seriously diminished, — 
indeed a universal prostration of business. In the midst of all this 
desolation and discouragement came a direct tax, levied by the 
National Government upon the people, which was exceedingly oner- 
ous. In the language of an old gentleman who was describing the 
situation to the author, " to the owners of small tenements and 
small farms it was like taking away and selling the crutches of the 
lame man and leaving him entirely helpless." A great many farm- 
ers, of limited means, found it impossible to pay these taxes. Then 
came the "distress." The buildings and lands were advertised to 
be sold at auction, or such part of them as would produce a suffi- 
cient amount to pay the tax assessed thereon, with the cost of 
advertising, marshal's fees, etc. A great many farms were so 
encumbered. We presume, however, that in no case was the owner 
of a farm deprived of his home or seriously embarrassed even by 
these proceedings. Usually, at these sales, a friend or neighbor 
would bid the sum necessary to satisfy the demand and hold the 
marshal's certificate of payment until the owner could make it con- 
venient to take it up. Sometimes simple interest would be charged 
for the accommodation; sometimes, and not rarely we are told, a 
Shylock would improve the opportunity for obtaining exorbitant 
interest, but frequently no charge would be made. These troubles 
were not of long continuance, but were severely felt by all classes 
of citizens, especially those of limited means, while they did last. 
There were very many of the latter who found it difficult to obtain a 
sufficiency of food for their families and themselves from day to day, 
and the owners of vessels, who were accounted wealthy, saw their 
property rapidly diminishing in value in consequence of lying idle 
and exposed during the two and a half years that it had been dis- 



176 HISTORY OF KENNEIIUNK. 

mantled and crowded in with other vessels in the river. We may 
well suppose that the news of peace was gladly welcomed by rich 
and poor. All went to work with a will. The dismantled shipping 
was repaired and fitted for service, the shipyards were bestrewed 
with timber which the carpenters were fashioning into frames, and 
on the wharves industry had resumed its sway. The Visitor renewed 
the publication of ship news, under the head of " Renewal of Trade," 
in its issue dated March 25, 18 15, as follows: "Cleared from our 
Custom House, 23d, ship George, Nason, for West Indies, and brig 
Juno, Smith, for Norfolk, Va." 

A majority of the early settlers in the town located themselves 
within the present Landing and Port Districts. The tide-water 
rivers, with their intervales, and especially with the facilities they 
afforded for reaching the ocean and the contiguous marshes, valua- 
ble for the grasses they bore, and flats, where were hidden the 
"treasures of the sand" so gratefully acknowledged by our Puritan 
progenitors and which our forefathers denominated "the poor man's 
meat barrel," together with the abundance of eatable birds and the 
"immovable fishes" that could easily be taken, offered inducements 
to the poor man that he could not fail to appreciate. If his crops 
failed, he had wherewith to sustain life at his very door ; if his land 
was poor, the sea washed upon the shore, the rocks had attached to 
them and the marshes afforded full supplies of weeds and soil rich 
in fertilizing qualities. Hence it was that for more than a quarter 
of a century — some twelve or fifteen years preceding and as long a 
time succeeding 1750 — this section of the Kennebunk territory 
exercised a controlling influence in the determination of all subjects 
of public interest. In all these years, however, the Village, Alewive, 
the Plains and Cat Mousam had been gradually advancing in popu- 
lation and wealth, so that about 1765 the first-named districts had 
lost their preponderancy. Among the early settlers in these dis- 
tricts were sterling men, lovers of good order, industrious and public- 
spirited, but they did not relish being outnumbered by those who 
had hitherto been in the minority, and thus it was that differences 
arose and that for a season there was a lack of the harmony and 
good fellowship between them and the other districts which had 
prevailed at a former period. True it is, that "mankind is the 
same in every age," and that love of power, even in matters utterly 
insignificant, has always been a source of discord, and while it has 
always been admitted by considerate persons to be an indication of 
weak-mindedness has, nevertheless, always been held, by the worthy 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 177 

and the unworthy, with tenacious grasp. The wave of prosperity that 
visited the good people of all these districts during the last decade 
of the eighteenth century, in the forms of shipbuilding and of 
becoming a sort of entrepot for the landing of lumber designed for 
shipment from the Port, obliterated all jealousies and established 
the more desirable condition of "working together in unity." 

We resume — after a digression perhaps not untimely — the his- 
tory of shipbuilding on the Kennebunk and of navigation in our 
collection district. 

Bradbur}\ in his Histor)', furnishes "facts and figures" that 
show the importance of our collection district from the date of its 
establishment to the year 1813. The amount of duties collected 
enables us to form a good idea of the value of our imports (chiefly 
rum, molasses and sugar) and also of the value of our exports, as 
the commodities imported were mainly either received in exchange 
for, or purchased with money derived from sales of, the lumber 
exported. The amount of duties collected in the district in 1806 
was $81,273; in 1807, $52,642; in 181 1, $86,441, and in 1812, 
$119,850; and (notwithstanding the embargo) for the ten years 
after the district was established the whole amount was about 
$500,000. Many vessels belonging to persons in Kennebunk and 
Arundel discharged their cargoes in Boston and other ports, thus 
depriving our district of the credit of probably one-half the amount 
of duties paid by its citizens on commodities brought to this country 
by vessels belonging to and hailing from this port. "Besides West 
India vessels, in which these imports were principally made, a large 
amount of property was invested in freighting ships which usually 
entered in ballast. The tonnage belonging in the district in 18 10 
was 8,552." 

Shipbuilding at Kennebunk Landing was vigorously renewed 
within a very few weeks after the news of peace had been received. 
Timber was brought in from different schooners of our own town 
and from the interior towns in large quantities, as were boards, 
staves, hoop poles and all the varieties of lumber usually shipped 
from our port. There was a shipyard back of Nathaniel Gillpat- 
rick's house — now owned and occupied by Thomas Crocker — where 
Gillpatrick built vessels ; another back of John T. Brown's house — 
the "Parson Little house" — which was operated by David Little; a 
third and fourth opposite the lot now occupied by the house owned 
and occupied by John Stevens and the one back of the schoolhouse, 
operated by Jacob Perkins and George and Ivory Lord, known in 



178 HISTORY OF KEXNEnUNIC. 

later years as " Titcomb's shipyard " ; another back of the site of 
Mark Pool's house, occupied by Timothy Kezer, and one below 
Durrell's Bridge operated by Hugh McCuIIoch. As was the practice 
for several years before the war, timber and other building materials 
were landed all along the road in the vicinity of these shipyards. 
Boards and other lumber, for shipping, were also piled along the 
road, but chiefly between the present residence of Charles F. Tarbox 
and Durrell's Bridge.^ This lumber was conveyed down the river in 
gondolas, which were laid alongside or at the bow of the vessel that 
was to take it on board and passed through the port holes or on to 
the deck. 

Ikon Works. 

The manufacture of iron from the ore and of various implements 
made of iron was for several years an important and successful 
industry in our town. Several enterprising citizens formed in 1770 
for this purpose a company, by which the work was prosecuted 
energetically. A dam was built at the lower falls, at the head of 
tide water, and a large one-story building, wherein were two forges, 
was erected before the close of the year 177 1. The necessary tools 
for the manufacture of iron from the ore were provided, and early in 
the spring of 1772 the works were in full operation. Some of the 
ore was obtained within the town, but mostly from Maryland Ridge 
and Sanford. We do not know the average yield of iron (after being 
separated from extraneous substances) from a ton of ore. It was 
not very rich, however. It was worth from two to four dollars per 
ton, according to its richness. The iron was forged into bars, 
weighing from fifteen to twenty-five pounds each, and the best of it 
sold readily for six cents per pound. For smelting, wood charcoal, 
which was plenty and cheap, was used. Vast improvements have 
been made in this manufacture since that period. 

It must be borne in mind by the reader that, at the time these 
works were erected, the island in the rear of the leatherboard build- 
ings had not been disconnected from the mainland, but was a small 
neck of land running from the road to the river. The water subse- 
quently worked a passage through the eastern portion of this neck, 
thus forming an island. On the western end of this neck (now the 

'In the Visitor of September 13.1811, Jeremiah Paul, surveyor, gives notice 
"that the highway leading from Kennebunk meeting-house to Durrell's Bridge 
is in many places so much incumbered with masts, spars, sliip timber and other 
kinds of timber and lumber that in many places it is rendci'd almost impossible 
for teams and carriages to pass. He therefore warns all pirsons interested that 
If such incumbrances are not removed within fourteen days from date he shall, 
at the expiration of the time mentioned, renaove the same and sell as mucli 
thereof at pulMic auction as will pay the e.xpenses of removing the same." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 179 

island) was the iron works building, and near to it was a grist-mill, 
the precise location of which cannot now be determined. Probably 
the grist-mill was not operated by the Iron Works Company, but by 
a separate organization, which hired lot and water power of the Iron 
Works Company, among the proprietors of which were several mem- 
bers of the " Corn Mill Co." We derive our authority for these 
statements, chiefly, from deeds of undivided parts of this property 
to James Kimball. We give below extracts from these conveyances. 

Joseph Hobbs to James Kimball, Februajy i8, 1773, conveys one- 
sixteenth part of building, dam, bellows, hammer, anvil, etc., " one-six- 
teenth part of privilege of building, repairing, improving any mill or 
dam where said iron works now stands, also one-sixteenth part of 
privilege of building and improving any mills or dams on the eastern 
side of said river, from the landing below said mill up said river 
within eight rods of the new bridge; also one-sixteenth part of three 
rods of land in breadth adjoining to said river, and in length from 
said landing up within eight rods of said bridge on the eastern side 
of the river." This conveyance excludes " the privelege heretofor 
conveyed for Grist Mill." Consideration about sixty-seven dollars. 

Moses Blaisdell, "forgeman," January 19, 1785, conveys to 
Kimball "three days' right in a month of the Iron Works that I 
bought of Dr. Rice, with privilege of building," etc., "excluding the 
grist mill and the privilege thereof, until the water runs over the 
dam on which the works now stand"; and Jacob Blaisdell, "forge- 
man," conveys to said Kimball "one day's right in said Iron Works." 

Jacob Curtis, April 15, 1785, conveys to Kimball "one-twelfth 
part of land on northeast side of and adjoining Mousam River, from 
County road at Mousam Bridge, three rods in width, to twenty rods 
from Mousam Landing, excepting only a Grist Mill and privilege 
for a grist mill or other water works where said Grist Mill now 
stands ; also, one-sixth of the shore-forge of a certain Iron Works 
Mill, standing on the land and river aforesaid, with part of the tools 
thereunto belonging, that is four days in a month." 

Daniel Merrill, July 18, 1790, conveys to Kimball "two-six- 
teenths of Iron Works and privilege extending as far up as the head 
of the Iron Works pond, with the privilege of passing and re-passing 
to and from said works laid out for said purpose," excepting one- 
sixteenth of the three rods road previously conveyed, "and the priv- 
ilege of the old grist mill and gate." Samuel Mitchell and Samuel 
Gillpatrick also conveyed to Kimball, May 29, 1800, shares in the 
iron works, privileges, etc. 



180 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

These works were successfully operated for about ten years. 
The ore in this vicinity, at the end of this time, had diminished 
materially in quantity and deteriorated considerably in quality, so 
that it was no longer profitable to operate them. It is apparent 
that there was no lack of energy or good management on the part 
of the proprietors, and that the discontinuance of labor there was 
unavoidable. Kimball probably could do better with the tools than 
any other one of the proprietors, as his blacksmith's shop was then 
in full operation, and it was hoped, doubtless, that the buildings, 
privileges, etc., might be advantageously improved at no distant day. 
The freshet of 1785 carried away the dam and shattered the shops, 
thus destroying all hopes of future usefulness. Indeed it would not 
appear that strong faith was at any time entertained in the value of 
the property, inasmuch as Mr. Kimball neglected, in most cases, to 
procure the acknowledgment of the deeds or to cause them to be 
recorded. 

We have very little of the history of the grist-mill. It is not an 
unlikely supposition that the freshet that carried away the dam 
seriously shattered the building and necessitated its removal. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE JUDICIAL COURTS. 

We infer that the inhabitants of Gorges's province were a "law 
unto themselves" prior to 1636. In that year the first organized 
government was formed by the appointment of a governor and sev- 
eral persons as counselors, whose commissions authorized them to 
exercise all the powers — whether executive, legislative or judicial — 
and to perform all the duties that might be required for its efficient 
administration. These officers were called upon, very soon after 
they had been qualified, to hear and decide, in their judicial capacity, 
several civil and criminal causes. Their "docket," it would seem, 
was well filled at an early day. In the theii heterogenous popula- 
tion the ignorant, restless, turbulent and vindictive were largely 
represented ; there were many who hungered and thirsted for the 
law and who appeared to have attained the highest degree of happi- 
ness when they had "a case in court." When, four years later, the 
first regularly organized court in Maine was established — "the 
Supreme Court of Judicature," which was to meet every month — 
there was no lack of business before the judges. Its first session 
was held at Biddeford. Most of the cases were of a trivial charac- 
ter, indicating a low and undesirable condition of society. At one 
court actions would be brought against persons for drunkenness, 
swearing, tattling, libidinous conduct, neglecting public worship, 
desecration of the Lord's day and other misdemeanors, which would 
be heard and decided (there were no jury trials at these courts), and 
perhaps the next month the complainants in the cases thus disposed 
of would be arraigned for like offenses, on complaint of those who 
had been convicted at the preceding term. Their "worshipful hon- 
ors," the judges, generally found sufficient cause for adjudging all 
the persons against whom complaints had been made to be guilty 
of the alleged misdemeanors and imposed fines or other penalties 
upon the offenders according to the gravity of the offenses of which 
they were respectively adjudged guilty. 

When the province was divided into two counties (1640-41), 
with York as the shire town of the western, and Saco the shire town 

181 



182 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

of the eastern county as well as the place where a general court for 
both counties was to be annually held, county courts were at once 
established in each district. The more important causes in the 
western district, or York shire, were tried at the court held in York, 
while those which at the present day would be called justice's court 
causes were tried at courts held in Wells and Kittery. This arrange" 
ment of the judiciary system continued until 1653, when, under the 
sway of Massachusetts, a different order of things prevailed. 

From the date — 1652-53 — when the Massachusetts commis- 
sioners assumed its government, to 1760, when the counties of Cum- 
berland and Lincoln were formed, York County embraced the entire 
Province of Maine. Among the first acts of these commissioners 
was the organization of a court, "the first session of which was held 
in York in 1653, and was presided over by a chief justice and four 
assistants, who were men of learning, sound judgment and acknowl- 
edged integrity. The court room, which was the meeting-house, 
was then reached by a mere path, on either side of which stood the 
stately pine, the majestic oak and other monarchs of the forest."^ 

A term of the court was held annually, perhaps oftener, at 
Wells from 1668 to 17 16. The sessions were usually held at the 
tavern of Samuel Austin, on the site of which the house of the late 
John Storer was afterward erected (between Cole's Corner and 
Wells's Corner). Storer kept a public house. It was torn down 
many years ago. Occasional sessions of the court were held at 
private houses, nearer Ogunquit, on the York road. A term of the 
court was also held annually in Kittery between the years 1653-17 16, 
Courts were likewise held in Saco and Scarborough within these 
dates.2 

The inhabitants of Wells, especially those in the eastern sec- 
tion of the town, were much dissatisfied when, in 17 16, York was 
made the shire town of the county. Terms of one or more of the 
courts having been held annually for so many years in their town, 
and it being undeniable that it was much more centrally located 
than York, they regarded it as not only onerous but unjust that the 
people of the entire county should be compelled to travel very nearly 

'Nathaniel G. MarshaU's address at the dedication of the new Town Hall In 
York, February 23, 1874. 

^ "In 171C Y^ork was made the shire town or place for holding all the courts and 
keeping the registry of deeds for the whole Province of Maine, by order of the 
Legislature of Massachusetts [which position it held about nineteen years, to 
1735]; then shire town with Portland of the whole Province from 17;i.'5 to 1760; then 
shire town of the County of Y'ork from 1760 to 1S02, when Alfred was made a shire 
town with York."— Marshall's Address. 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK, 183 

to its southern boundary to attend the courts or to transact business 
at the registry of deeds or other county offices. It seems that the 
declaration in the foregoing that "all the courts" were to be held at 
York was not entirely correct, for we find that the town of Wells 
voted, "January 6, 1774, to petition the General Court to remove 
the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, then annually held at Bidde- 
ford in October, to Wells," but the prayer of this petition was not 
granted. How long this court was continued in Biddeford we are 
unable to say. After Kennebunk had been incorporated as the 
Second Parish and had attained somewhat of prominence on account 
of its increasing population and as a business center, efforts were 
made to remove the judicial courts, in part or in whole, to this pre- 
cinct; but, so far as can now be ascertained, these efforts were con- 
fined to the adopting of votes in town meeting, from time to time, 
favoring such action, or, when questions relating to the location of 
the county courts were submitted to the people, by the giving of 
strong votes against any proposition opposed to the object for which 
they were laboring. They do not appear to have taken hold of the 
work with the vigor and determination essential to success. It is 
apparent that "they did not do what they could." Wells was an 
inrtuential town and Kennebunk was undeniably an excellent loca- 
tion; the town was not lacking in men of energy, of means and of 
intelligence, but for some reason that cannot now be divined, they 
permitted themselves to be outgeneraled by the more active and 
persevering efforts of the advocates of their establishment elsewhere. 
We copy the votes in reference to this measure which were adopted 
at different times. 

At a town meeting held on the seventh day of November, 1796, 
the inhabitants there assembled, fifty-nine in number, voted unani- 
mously that, in their opinion, it is for the interest of the County of 
York that the Supreme Judicial Court should be removed from York 
to Kennebunk as the most convenient place for holding the same. 

November 6, 1797, voted that Jonas Clark, Joseph Hubbard 
and Nahum Morrill are hereby appointed delegates to attend the 
County Convention to be held at the dwelling-house of Levi Rogers? 
in Berwick, on the third day of May, 1798, for the purpose of con- 
sulting and deliberating upon the expediency of removing the 
Supreme Judicial Court from York to some more central and con- 
venient place. [We have no means of ascertaining how many dele- 
gates attended this convention or the result of its deliberations.] 

The subject of the removal of a part of the terms of the judicial 



184 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

courts from York to Kennebunk or Alfred had been so frequently 
brought before the Legislature of Massachusetts, that, in 1799, a 
committee was appointed by that body to visit these towns with the 
view of ascertaining which of the two last named "was the most 
eligible place for the permanent establishment of the courts." This 
committee attended to the duty assigned them and reported unani- 
mously in favor of Kennebunk, which report was accepted, and by 
order of the Legislature a part of the terms of the courts was held 
in Kennebunk^ in the years 1800, 1801 and 1802, and this town (or 
parish) became a half-shire town of the County of York. In 1S02 
the friends of Alfred again brought the subject before the Legisla- 
ture by petitions for the removal of the courts from Kennebunk to 
Alfred. The Legislature, by a strong vote, decided in favor of 
retaining them in Kennebunk, but this decision was reversed by the 
same Legislature. The manner in which this remarkable operation 
was performed is thus described by a correspondent of the Gazette: 
"The subject was suffered quietly to slumber until the representa- 
tives from this part of the county had returned to their homes. The 
representative from Alfred then contrived to have the subject again 
called up and by a single vote obtained an act in favor of the location 
at Alfred." Alfred accordingly became a half-shire town in 1802. 
The people of Kennebunk, and those in the neighboring towns in 
favor of the location of the courts here, appear to have submitted 
to this extraordinary legislation without remonstrance. The only 
action taken in reference to this matter, between the years 1802 
and 18 1 6, so far as we can ascertain, is the following from the 
Wells records, under date of 1803: "The following question was 
put in town meeting, — Is it expedient that the Spring term of the 
Supreme Judicial Court should be holden at Kennebunk and the 
Fall term of the same Court at Alfred .' Two hundred and ninety- 
one voters being present, all of whom, excepting one, voted in the 
affirmative." With this expression of opinion as to expediency, we 

'"About this time [IT'.iO] <?reat comDlaint was made of the old townhouse [at 
York] for holding courts, and the want of accommodations for judges, suitors, 
jurors and attorneys, and the result was that the terms of the Supreme Court 
were holden In that part of Wells now Kennebunk in IStXiand IWl. Great exer- 
tions were made to constitute Alfred and Kennebunk the shire towns of the 
county. These movements stirred the people of this town [York], Klttery and 
Berwick intensely. The result was that this town and Alfred were declared the 
shire towns, and measures were adopted by which the county donated five hun- 
dred dollars, York six hundred dollars, aiid individuals in York and Kitterv con- 
tributed generously for the purpose of building a courthouse, which was done in 
lSlO-11. The courts were retained here [York] until 1*12, when, on account of our 
geographical position, all the courts were removed to Alfred and that place 
became the shire town of the county."— J/arsAa/^'s Address. 



KENNEBUNK. 



185 



think the whole matter was permitted to slumber for the following 
thirteen years. 

The first term of the court in 1800, as were the terms in 1801 
and 1802, was held in the meeting-house. We copy from the records : 
"Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

"York, ss. At the Supreme Judicial Court of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusts begun and holden at Wells (that part of the 
town called Kennebunk) within and for the County of York, on the 
second Tuesday of September, being the ninth day of said month, 
Anno Domini 1800. 

"By the Honorable Theophilus Bradbury, Samuel Sewall, 
Esquires. And the Honorable Simeon Strong, Esquire, producing 
a commission under the seal of the Commonwealth, appointing him 
one of the Justices of this Court, the same is read in open Court 
and he takes his seat accordingly." 

Edward Payne Hayman was qualified as Clerk. 

Dudley Hubbard, Esq., was appointed Attorney General pro 
tern, the legal incumbent of the office being absent. 

Samuel Mitchell, Samuel Howard and John Webber, Grand 
Jurymen from Wells. 

Benjamin Titcomb (foreman), William Hobbs and John Low, 
First Petit Jury; Joseph Littlefield, third, Second Jury, all of Wells. 

Several cases were tried during the term, but all of them unim- 
portant. 

George W. Wallingford, Nicholas Emery, Judah Dana and 
Temple Hovey were proposed for admission to practice in this court. 

September term, 1801. Justices, Robert Treat Paine, Samuel 
Sewall and George Thacher. 

Ezekiel Wakefield, Joseph Bourn and Daniel Wheelwright, 
Grand Jurymen for Wells. First Petit Jurors, John Taylor (foreman 
first jury), Jonathan Hill, Isaac Emery and Isaac Bourn, from Wells. 

1801. John Holmes was proposed for admission to practice 
in this court. 

Nol pros, entered, State vs. Wells, for not repairing highways. 

Commonwealth vs. Seth Storer, mariner, Foxwell Cutts and 
Jonathan Tucker, merchants, all of Pepperelborough, for alleged 
obstruction of a public landing place, by building a wharf. Verdict, 
not guilty. 

September, 1802. Justices. Simeon Strong, Samuel Sewall and 
George Thacher. 

Jeremiah Hubbard, Samuel Gooch and Abraham Annis, Grand 



186 HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK, 

Jurymen from Wells. Petit Jurors, George Getchel, Benaiah Clark, 
Nathaniel Wells, Jr. (foreman of second jury), Nathaniel Storer and 
Samuel Gillpatrick, for Wells. 

1802. Peleg Wadsworth, Stephen Longfellow and John Froth- 
ingham appointed referees in an action for trespass, — Daniel Mc- 
Crillis and Robert Ford, of Berwick, 7's. William Bennet, of Sanford. 

Joseph and Clement Storer z's. Moses Littlefield, Jr., of Wells. 
At a Court of Common Pleas, held at York in 1801, this case was 
tried and a verdict rendered in favor of the defendant. Plaintiffs 
appealed. Judgment of lower court sustained. Costs, one hundred 
twenty-six dollars and eight cents on plaintiffs. 

The President and Fellows of Harvard College petitioners for 
partition of twenty-five hundred acres of land on Saco River, of 
which the college is owner of two-fifths. Samuel Pierson, of Bidde- 
ford, James Gray, of Pepperelborough, and Samuel Knight, of Bos- 
ton, appointed to make partition of said land. 

Jane Wood z's. Job Wood, action for divorce on ground of 
adultery. Divorce granted. 

State 7's. Jonathan Hodsdon, of Porterfield, who, "not having 
the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by 
the instigation of the Devil, with force and arms in and upon one 
Mary Sargent, wife of Daniel Sargent, in the peace of God and of 
the Commonwealth aforesaid then and there being, violently and 
feloniously did make an assault," etc., etc. Isaac Parker and Nich- 
olas Emery, counsel for defendant. Verdict of jury, "Not guilty." 
This trial, we are told, drew to the church a much larger attendance 
of males than was usually found at the Sabbath-day services in the 
sanctuary. It afforded rare sport for all present, from the bench to 
the humblest listener on the floor. 

The lawyers whose names appear on the records of the sessions 

of the court in the years above named are Symmes, Daniel 

Davis, Dudley Hubbard, Prentiss Mellen, George Thatcher, Joseph 
Thomas, George W. Wallingford, Nicholas Emery, Isaac Parker, 

Judah Dane, Temple Hovey, Cyrus King, Atkinson (of Dover, 

N. H., probably), John Holmes, Benjamin Greene. 

A courthouse was erected in Alfred in 1807, at a cost of three 
thousand four hundred ninety-nine dollars and sixty-nine cents. 
The previous year a log jail was built at a cost of about three 
thousand dollars. 

The office of county treasurer was removed from York to Alfred 
in 1 8 13; the offices of clerk of the courts and register of probate 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 187 

were removed from York to Kennebunk in 1815. Both of the last 
named were held by Daniel Sewall, who came to Kennebunk from 
York in that year and brought the records of these offices with him, 
perhaps under authority of a legislative enactment, or the law might 
have empowered the judges of the courts to sanction their removal 
to other than a shire town. The records of all these offices had 
always been kept in the dwelling-houses of the several incumbents 
thereof until 1S20, the date of their being transferred to Alfred. 

The selectmen of Wells petitioned the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts, May, 1816, in compliance with a vote of the town, that 
one term of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas and one term of 
the Supreme Judicial Court, then, by law, held at York, be removed 
to that part of Wells called Kennebunk, or to Alfred, as the General 
Court may think proper. 

Fireproof Building. 

A committee chosen by the town of York — David Sewall, chair- 
man—and the selectmen of said town petitioned the Legislature of 
Massachusetts, at its May session, 18 16, that the "town of York, 
together with the towns of Eliot, Kittery, Wells, Arundel, Biddeford 
and Saco, with such other towns adjoining them as see fit to petition 
for the purpose, may be divided and set off from the other towns in 
the county for the purpose of electing a register of deeds and erect- 
ing a building, if thought necessary, in some one of the aforesaid 
towns for the reception of all the ancient records of the county and 
those which may be hereafter made." This action was taken be- 
cause, "by a late resolve of the Commonwealth, the County of York 
is required to erect a fireproof building in the town of Alfred for the 
reception of the records of the county." The first of the several 
reasons given for the favorable consideration of the prayer of the 
petitioners is "that the town of Alfred is far inland and contains a 
small and scattered population. In 1808 it was a part of Sanford 
and in that year was incorporated, and without the Society of Shak- 
ers would be so inconsiderable as to be hardly entitled to a repre- 
sentation in your honorable body; the roads leading to this town 
are circuitous," etc. The petitioners also call attention to the facts 
that people from the interior towns necessarily seek the seaboard 
towns to find sale for their products and to purchase commodities 
needed in their homes, while business interests call very few persons 
from the seaboard to the interior; the mail facilities were much 
better on the seaboard. "The towns bordering immediately on the 
seacoast contained, in the year 1810, nearly eighteen thousand 



188 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

inhabitants and paid more than one-half part of the taxes, and it is 
believed have had the largest share of business to transact with the 
office of the register." 

The following paragraph, copied from this petition, furnishes 
facts of general interest, even at this day: "Your petitioners hav- 
ing thus shown a portion of the inconveniences they must suffer, 
with the other towns on the seaboard, from the location of the offices 
in Alfred and the erection of 2, fireproof building there, would further 
represent that in the year 1647 ^^ records of the County of York 
(which then embraced the whole of the District of Maine) were 
located in this town [York] and have there continued (with great 
real convenience to the public) till within a short period of time. 
These records contain evidence of title to real estate for the District 
of Maine from its first settlement, and were the only depository of 
the records of deeds in said District until 1761, when the counties 
of Cumberland and Lincoln were severed from the county of York." 

The town of Lyman also appointed a committee to petition the 
Legislature, either that the law requiring the fireproof building at 
Alfred be repealed, or that certain named towns on the seaboard, 
and such interior towns, the business transactions of the people of 
which lead them very frequently to those on the seaboard, be set off 
as a recording district. 

These petitions were referred to the winter session of the Leg- 
islature, during which (December 6, 1816,) "a Resolve passed both 
houses authorizing the Register of Deeds of York County to keep 
his office, records, &c., at Alfred." The petitions from York and 
Lyman, it appears, received little attention, nor do we find any inti- 
mation that they were "backed up" by similar petitions from the 
other towns interested, although popular sentiment on the seaboard 
and in several interior towns was decidedly opposed to the location 
of the building in Alfred. 

In the Visitor of May 9, 1818, John Holmes, agent, under 
authority of the before-named resolve, advertised for proposals for 
furnishing materials and labor for the fireproof building, which 
proposals were to be opened on the eighteenth of said month and 
contracts to be awarded immediately thereafter ; the whole work was 
to be completed by the first day of the ensuing November. The 
building was not completed until the fall of 18 19 ; its cost was three 
thousand and fifty-six dollars. 

The agitation of the "court question" was continued by the 
presentation of a petition, signed by Arthur McArthur, of Liming- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 189 

ton, and others, in the Maine Legislature of 1823, praying that all 
the courts in the County of York may be located at Alfred. This 
proceeding created great excitement in the towns of York, Kittery 
and Eliot, the citizens of which claimed that it was a violation of an 
agreement made twenty years previously, "whereby Alfred was 
pledged to make no attempt to remove the courts from York so long 
as the people of that quarter Avere satisfied with the existing arrange- 
ment." It was not denied that such an agreement was made, and 
the petition was withdrawn, "under an apprehension that if these 
towns were against Alfred, the consequence would be a removal of 
all the courts to Kennebunk." 

"This course of things induced the friends of Kennebunk to 
believe that the time had arrived when the people could have an 
opportunity of settling the question upon its own merits, unshackled 
by any league or system of bargain and management to prevent the 
free exercise of their rights." ^ Accordingly petitions were presented 
to the Legislature of 1824, asking that all the courts may be removed 
to Kennebunk. When the subject matter of these petitions came 
up for consideration in the House a protracted debate ensued; 
several propositions were offered, discussed and rejected. At length 
the question was disposed of in both branches by the passage of an 
act which was regarded, by the friends of Kennebunk at least, as 
fair and satisfactory. This act required the legal voters in the sev- 
eral towns composing the county to give in their votes at the annual 
town meetings, in March or April of said year, on this proposition, 
" Is it expedient that all the judicial courts and county offices shall 
be held at one place in the county of York? " and if it shall appear 
that the number of votes in the affirmative shall exceed those in the 
negative, then the inhabitants of the aforesaid towns shall be 
required to give in their votes, at the annual election in September, 
on the following question, "Shall all the judicial courts and county 
offices in the county of York be located in Alfred or Kennebunk.' " 

The Gazette of the twentieth of March, 1824, says, in reference 
to the questions submitted to the people by this act, that, by locating 
the courts at Kennebunk, the county will "actually gain a new- 
courthouse and fireproof building for the county offices. The land 
is already given, in the center of the town, on which they may be 
erected," provided it is voted to locate the courts in Kennebunk, 
and in such event the citizens of the town will obligate themselves 
"that a sum shall be subscribed by individuals which, with the 

'George Scammaii, of Saeo, in a speech before the Senate, January '2s, 1825. 



190 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

addition of the proceeds of the sale of the old buildings, shall be 
amply sufficient to erect new ones at Kennebunk," A decisive 
majority of the votes given in on the first question in the several 
towns in the county was in the affirmative, thus opening the way 
for action on the important question, " Shall the courts be located 
at Alfred or Kennebuuk?" 

The active supporters of the respective towns entered upon the 
contest with great earnestness. In Alfred a printing office was 
established, from which a weekly paper, called the Columbian Star, 
was issued. The leading object of this paper was the advocacy of 
the claims of Alfred for selection as the shire town; it also sup- 
ported, exclusively, the measures and candidates of the Republican 
or Democratic party, thus releasing the proprietor of the Kennebunk 
Gazette from all obligations longer to open his columns to all parties, 
which, as the publisher of the only paper in the county, he had up 
to that time considered it expedient, as well as proper, to do. The 
friends of Kennebunk felt assured that a majority of the voters in 
the county were satisfied that this town was altogether the most 
desirable place for the location of all the courts, and that the main 
obstacle to their success was the cost of new buildings, for which 
there might be fears that the people would be taxed. To meet this 
possible objection, a subscription paper was circulated and an 
amount was at once pledged quite sufficient to erect a courthouse 
and county offices, which, with an ample lot of land, it was proposed 
to present to the county in case the courts were located here. 

The Gazette of June 17th contained an illustrative engraving 
showing the external appearance of the proposed new county build- 
ing, according to the plan that had been made. Accompanying this 
was a copy of a bond made by Joseph Storer, Daniel Sewall and 
others, binding themselves, " provided the inhabitants of the county 
shall determine, by their votes [at the then approaching September 
election], to locate all the judicial courts and county offices at Ken- 
nebunk and the State Legislature shall pass an act in conformity 
thereto," to erect and finish in a workmanlike manner, within nine 
months after an act of the Legislature, as aforesaid, shall have been 
passed, a proper building for a courthouse, and fireproof, for the sole 
use and benefit of the county. Said building was to be " fifty-two feet 
long and forty-two feet wide, two stories high, with a hipped roof; the 
lower story of the same to contain convenient rooms for the offxes of 
the Clerk of the Courts, Register of Deeds and Register of Probate, 
with proper alcoves or safes in each of said rooms for the safe keep- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 191 

ing of the Records, and a fireplace in each room, and also suitable 
lobbies for the accommodation of the Jurors, with fireplaces in two 
of said lobbies; the upper story to be finished off in a plain and 
workmanlike manner, equal, at least, in style and convenience, to 
either of the present Courthouses in York or Alfred ; to have four 
fireplaces and one lobby, with a proper number of doors and of 
windows of eight by ten glass, and all the rooms and entries to be 
plastered." 

On the conditions named in the above-described bond, Joseph 
Storer obligated himself to make and deliver unto the County of 
York a good and sufficient deed of two tracts of land, lying in Ken- 
nebunk, as follows: Beginning at a stake standing by the road 
leading by said Storer's house (later owned by Charles Parsons) to 
Alfred, about four and one-half rods from the northwest corner of said 
Storer's farmhouse, and running northeasterly fifty-two rods to the 
road leading from the meeting-house, thence by said road southeast 
four and one-half rods, or so far as would be necessary to make four 
rods in a line drawn at right angles to the first line, thence from 
said point fifty-three rods to the road first mentioned, thence by said 
road to the first bounds ; it was intended thereby to make a road 
four rods wide from the two roads first mentioned on the southeast 
side of the line first run. Also, another lot of land adjoining the 
same, bounded as follows : beginning at a stake on the northwest 
side of the new road thus laid out, about twenty-one and a half rods 
from the road first mentioned, thence running northwesterly thirteen 
and a half rods to land sold to Rufus Furbish (now Mrs. William 
Storer's), thence northeasterly fifteen rods, thence southeasterly 
eleven and a quarter rods to a stake standing by the new road 
herein laid out, thence by said road to the first bounds; the first 
lot for the use of said county as a road, and the second lot for the 
use of said county on which to erect a courthouse or any other 
buildings, when and so long as said judicial courts shall be holden 
at Kennebunk. 

Still another bond was given by the friends of Kennebunk, on 
the before-named conditions, and with the further condition "that if 
the inhabitants of said County of York shall give unto Joseph 
Thomas, Joseph Storer, Michael Wise, John Hovey, of Kennebunk, 
and Isaac Lord, of Effingham, N. H., the obligors named in the 
bond, a good and sufficient deed of all the right and title of said 
county to the present courthouse, fireproof building and gaol in 
Alfred, and to all the land under and adjoining the same on or 



192 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

before the first day of July, 1825, and also the courthouse in York 
and the land under and adjoining the same on or before the above- 
named date, and of the gaol in York and the land under and adjoin- 
ing the same on or before the first day of July, 1827, then the 
before-named obligors shall procure a good and sufficient deed, in 
fee to the said county, of a suitable piece of land in said Kenne- 
bunk, not less than one-half of an acre, and shall cause to be erected 
thereon for the use of said county, as its sole and absolute property, 
within two years from the time appointed by law for the location of 
the said courts and county offices in Kennebunk, a suitable gaol 
and gaol house for the safe keeping of prisoners and for the accom- 
modation of the gaoler." Here follows a minute description of the 
building, which was to be thirty-eight by twenty-five feet, two stories 
high, etc., etc. 

Probably at no time in the political history of the county has 
excitement run so high as during the ten weeks preceding the " vote 
on the court question," which occurred on the thirteenth of Septem- 
ber, 1824. It was the largest vote that had ever been thrown in the 
county. Arrangements had been made for obtaining accurate lists 
of the votes from every town at the earliest hour practicable, by 
means of messengers (railroads, telegraph and telephone wires were 
conveniences then unknown to us), who, on their arrival in the 
village, were to report, without delay, at Towle's Hotel. The pro- 
gramme was carried out admirably. Every town was heard from 
before midnight, and at that hour handbills were issued from the 
Gazette o^ce. giving the entire vote on the court question, and, except- 
ing two or three towns, the full vote for county officers. The returns 
aggregated three thousand four hundred and ninety-two votes for Ken- 
nebunk and three thousand two hundred and eighty-four for Alfred. 
The majority for Kennebunk was two hundred and eight; according 
to the official returns, this majority was reduced to two hundred and 
one. Wells was the "banner town." Its vote was for Kennebunk 
five hundred and nine, Alfred none. In this town the vote was four 
hundred and fifty-four for Kennebunk, Alfred one ; in Kennebunk- 
port, Kennebunk received four hundred and thirty-five and Alfred 
two votes. An excellent supper was provided for the messengers 
and citizens at Towle's and the hall in the ancient hostelry was 
never better filled than then, and never was there assembled within 
its walls a company of men better satisfied with the events of a day 
than were those who there and then exchanged their congratula- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 193 

tions. The battle had been fairly fought and the victory had been 
honestly gained.^ 

Early in the session of the Legislature of 1S25, the Secretary 
of State transmitted to the Senate the returns of the votes given in 
the several towns in the County of York respecting the location of 
the judicial courts, which in due course were referred to a joint 
committee, consisting of three members of the Senate and five mem- 
bers of the House. The report of this committee, which was that 
"it is inexpedient to take any further order thereon," was brought 
up in the Senate a few days later, debated and amended, by a vote 
of eleven to eight, so as to authorize a resolve to be brought in, 
whereby the judicial courts and county offices should be established 
at Kennebunk, according to the votes of the people of the county. 
The senators from Cumberland, Hancock, Oxford and Penobscot 
voted in the negative. When the report of the committee, as 
amended by the Senate, came before the House, after considerable 
debate, it was decided to non-concur with the Senate's amendment, 
ninety-one to thirty-nine, and the report was then accepted in its 
original form. When this action of the House was brought up in 
the Senate, that body seceded from its former vote and concurred 
with the House, eleven to eight, thus treating contemptuously and 
defeating the wishes of a majority of the people of York County, as 
expressed at the polls in accordance with an order of a former 
Legislature. 

The arguments employed by the advocates of Alfred in justifi- 
cation of this unwarrantable legislation were that the majority for 
Kennebunk was obtained under an undue excitement, growing out 
of the presidential election and questions of a local character, and 
that, in the language of a Mr. Adams, a member of the House from 
Portland, "although a decisive majority of the people of York 
County was found to be in favor of having all their courts in one 
place, and on the final question a majority was also in favor of 
Kennebunk in preference to Alfred, still this voice of the people 
was not conclusive, but merely a matter of fact or evidence upon 
which the Legislature were, after all, at liberty to exercise their 
judgment and give it what weight it might deserve." Other members 
sustained this view of the case in similar and even stronger terms. 

' By an exact calculation, it was found that the towns favorable to Kennebunk 
contained a population of 24,227, while those favorable to Alfred contained 22.6.57^ 
and that the polls in the first named numbered 5,047. while those in the last 
named numbered 4,416. The county tax of York County for 1824 was $4,500, of 
which the towns in favor of Kennebunk paid $2,800 and those in favor of Alfred 
about $1,700. 



194 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The subject of the permanent location of the seat of government 
of this State was before this Legislature of 1825 ; each of the towns 
of Wiscasset, Waterville, Thomaston and Augusta was an applicant 
for this distinction. It was alleged that the unlooked-for and 
unjust action, in both branches, in regard to the York County courts 
was the outgrowth of certain "log-rolling" operations, by which the 
friends of Augusta, "right or wrong," covenanted to aid the advo- 
cates of Alfred, and the friends of Alfred to aid those of Augusta. 
Several of the measures of this Legislature were severely criticised 
by some of the leading newspapers of the time in this State. 

The matter was not permitted to rest here. During the first 
week of the session of the State Legislature of 1826 the petition of 
Nahum Morrill and others, of Wells, praying that all the courts in 
York County may be located at Kennebunk, was presented and 
referred, with several others on the same subject, to a select joint 
committee. This committee reported an order of notice, together 
with a reference to the next Legislature. In the Senate it was 
voted, nine to seven, not to accept this report, and, also, to grant 
the petitioners leave to bring in a bill. The House non-concurred 
and accepted the report of the committee. The Senate adhered to 
its former vote, whereupon the House voted to indefinitely postpone 
the subject. 

The following year, 1827, Nahnm Morril and many others peti- 
tioned the Legislature that all the judicial courts and county offices 
in York County may be located at Kennebunk, agreeably to the 
wishes of a majority of the inhabitants of said county, as fairly and 
unequivocally expressed ; and Nathaniel Hill and others, of Lyman, 
also petitioned the same body that all the courts in York County 
may be located in one place. The committee to which the latter 
was referred reported that " it is inexpedient to take any further 
measures on the subject the present session," which report was 
accepted in both branches. The petition of Morrill and others 
shared a similar fate. Inasmuch as this Legislature was under the 
same controlling influence as were those of the years 1825 and 1826, 
this result was not unexpected. 

The following extract from a letter written by Mr. Holmes to 
Ex-Governor King, dated Washington, January 21, 1825, probably 
affords a full explanation of the otherwise inexplicable conduct, as 
above described, of the majorities in the Legislatures of 1825, 1826 
and 1827: "If the courts are at Kennebunk, federalism will ema- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 195 

nate from their headquarters and the Republican party is down. 
• . . Do write or speak to some of our confidential friends and 
give them this view of the subject." 

An act to remove the judicial courts in the County of York 
from the town of York to the town of Alfred was passed by the 
Legislature of 1833 and approved by the governor. 

Jeremiah Bradbury, clerk of the county courts, advertised 
October 28, 1833, for proposals for building a county jail at Alfred, 
the whole building to be completed on or before the first day of 
September, 1834.^ 

By a resolve of the Legislature of the eighth of February, 1834, 
the several towns in the county were required, at their annual town 
meetings in March or April, to give in their votes by yea or nay in 
regard to the building of a new jail. The result of the balloting on 
this question, in all the towns in the county, was forty-two yeas and 
two thousand four hundred and eighty-four nays. The cause of this 
meager vote was that thirty days before the passage of the resolve 
the county commissioners had accepted proposals received in answer 
to the advertisement above named, and that the contractors had in 
part executed their contract before the town meetings were held. 

The present fireproof wings on each side of the courthouse 
were finished in the fall of 1854 and cost twenty-nine thousand one 
hundred seventy-one dollars and fifty cents. In the summer of 
1854 the "dome light" was placed on the courthouse, over the 
court room ; cost, nine hundred ninety-eight dollars and fifty cents. 

'"In October, 1838, a committee of eight from different parts of the county 
reported that a new stone jail was needed; estimated cost, $6,0(X). It was built in 
1884, costing $7,737.12. The lot for the new jail and house of correction was pur- 
chased and the foundation of the building laid at a cost of |6,000. The Legislature 
subsequently authorized the expenditure of $80,(XK), and the building was com- 
pleted in 187S.''''— History of York County. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST CONCERNING "YE OLDEN TIME" 
AND PEOPLE COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 

We have found in the ancient records of Wells, as well as in old 
papers, documents and historical works that we have had occasion 
to consult, many facts that are worthy of presentation in connection 
with our history, the most important of which are here given. 
Although some of them are not strictly of historical value, they are, 
we think, neither inappropriate nor devoid of interest. It may be 
well to add that chronological order is not attempted. 



Frequent mention, in transfers of real estate recorded in the 
old town records of Wells, is made of "the Willows." We appre- 
hend that very few of the citizens of that town, at this day, are 
aware that such a name was ever borne by the locality referred to. 
Here and there one with antiquarian taste can be found who will 
tell you that it is now known as "Tatnick." It was formerly noted 
for the number and extraordinary size of the willow trees that grew 
there; the tree is by no means extinct at the present time, — many 
fine specimens are still to be seen in that locality. How it happened 
that the pretty and appropriate title originally borne by this place 
was exchanged for its present inelegant designation, tradition does 
not reveal. In an old grant (1659) this locality is referred to as 
"Catriarh." This is the only mention of it under this nam.e that 
we have found. 



Henry Brown and James Oare (Air) were residents (planters) 
of Oyster River (former name of Durham, N. H.,) in November, 
1662, and in that year purchased a farm of Thomas Withers, "of 
Kitterie," situated at "Bradboat" (Braveboat) Harbor in " Piscatq 
River at the wading place." In 1684 they received a grant of land 
on the western side of the Mousam nigh to where the tide comes 
up ; about four and one-half acres. 

196 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 197 

Joseph Taylor and William Frost were chosen " Servaiers of 
the highways" for the years 1695 and 1696. 



One, Two, Three and Four Mile Brooks are frequently men- 
tioned as boundary lines of lots laid out or conveyed. We have 
inquired of many of the old residents of Wells as to the location of 
these brooks, but have not been able to obtain the desired informa- 
tion. The records do not throw much light on the subject. In a 
grant to James Denmark, March, 1694, the lot is described as "lying 
between the four mile brook and the three mile brook, joining to the 
four mile brook going to Negunquit," and the same year a grant to 
John Harmon is described as " lying or being near a place commonly 
called the four mile brook going towards Negunquit." In 1675 ^ 
grant was made to Thomas Boston of one hundred and fifty acres, 
"at the head of Little River, the three mile brook upon." 1703, a 
lot of land is described as lying between Exford and three mile 
brook. The surveyors' return of the laying out of the road from 
the village to "Gould's Causey" (the "Harts Beach road") in 1796 
states that it runs to or near the one mile brook. We presume, 
therefore, that it is "Sunken Brook," near the village, sometimes 
called "Brandy Brook" on account of the color of the water, espe- 
cially near its confluence with the Mousam. 



" Not more than five or six families lived within the present 
limits" of Kennebunk in 17 16. "There were thirty-two male adults 
in Wells in 1653. The entire population probably did not exceed 
one hundred." "Previous to 1653 between thirty and forty persons 
[male adults.?] had here [in Wells] made a home, but some of them 
had removed to New Hampshire before that date." "The first 
houses in Wells were built near the site of the Island Ledge House, 
on or about Drake's Island and between that and Little River." — 
Bourne. 



The earliest permanent settlers in Wells, when it embraced the 
present territory of Kennebunk, were the ancestors of the Coles, 
Gooches, Hammonds, Harmons, Littlefields, Wakefields and Wheel- 
wrights, who were here prior to 1653; the Bennetts, Bostons, But- 
lands, Cousenses, Hatches, Hobbses, Larrabees, Smiths, Storers, 
Taylors, Wellses and Wormwoods, who came here between the 
years 1653 and 1670. 



198 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

We find on the early records of the town, on old deeds and 
other ancient documents, the following Christian names of persons 
who were residents in Wells and Kennebunk: Bazelial, Hezekiah, 
Jedediah, Lazarus, Sarathiel, Zachariah, Zabular, Zebulon, Bathsheba^ 
Bethaiah, Comfort, Consider, Dorcas, Dorothy, Diadema, Hepsea, 
Hepsibah, Iset, Jemima, Jerusha, Johannah, Katherine, Keziah, 
Lowhannah, Mercy, Merriam, Merribah, Panoply, Patience, Patty, 
Pethular, Philadelphia, Philomela, Prudence, Shuah, Susannah,^ 
Tabitha, Temperance, Terza. 



Cape Porpus was totally destroyed by the Indians the tenth of 
August, 1703. Bradbury says it probably never had contained more 
than two hundred inhabitants up to that date. Some of the former 
residents returned and a few new settlers came in; in 17 14 the pop- 
ulation continued to increase and in 17 19, on petition of the inhab- 
itants, the town was re-incorporated by the Massachusetts General 
Assembly and its name was changed to Arundel. 



1 7 15, June 30, the town appointed a committee to "run a line 
athwart of the head of the old lots, being two and a half miles up 
from the marshes ; also, a highway eight rods in breadth above said 
lots." 



"Pond Marsh," occasionally referred to in grants of early 
dates, was in the vicinity of Maryland Ridge, as was "Exford." 



1 7 18, March 18, town votes that Judah Paddock and Henry 
Marsh have liberty to gather up what pitchpine knots or candlewood 
they may find, for making tar, on the common lands between the 
easternmost branches of Little River and Mousam River, from the 
sea up said rivers as high as the path or country road which leads 
from Wells town towards Saco and no higher ; the tar to be made 
on the land and the town to be paid eighteen pence for each barrel 
made. It would be interesting to learn the process by which tar 
was then manufactured, the amount made by the grantees and their 
success in a pecuniary point of view, but we have no information 
touching either of these particulars. 



17 14-17 19, grant to Penny "westerly side of the ridge (Mary- 
land), now Episand, where runneth a small brook out of it into 
Episand Brook." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 199 

"The greatest fall of snow ever known in New England was in 
17 17; the storm continued six days and the depth of snow was 
eight feet upon a level. Many buildings in the country were buried 
up in the drifts." 



A tribe of Indians, the Norridgewocks, formerly occupied the 
present site of the town of Norridgewock, in this State. With this 
tribe a French Jesuit missionary, named Sebastian Rasle, took up 
his abode. He erected a church in their village and was active and 
successful in proselyting the Indians of this and other tribes to the 
peculiar forms and ceremonies of the Catholic religion, but his labors 
were not confined to parochial duties; he exerted all his influence 
to exasperate the Eastern Indians against the English, and in time 
of war urged them to acts of the greatest violence and cruelty. His 
influence became so widespread and his plans for the devastation of 
the settlements (in Maine and New Hampshire especially) and for 
the captivity and murder of the Colonists were so faithfully carried 
out by his savage adherents that the greatest alarm prevailed among 
the settlers. The Indians were unusually active from April to 
August in 1723, "murders were perpetrated successively at Fal- 
mouth, Scarborough, Saco, Wells, York and Dover," and in the 
spring of the following year they renewed their warlike operations 
with increased vigor and unabated ferocity. Rasle was known to 
be the master spirit who, with the "advice and aid of his ecclesias- 
tical and lay superiors at Quebec," planned and directed these hor- 
rible outrages. "The nuisance was intolerable; it had to be abated 
at its source. There could be no quiet sleep in a border settlement 
unless it was at the same time a garrison. The wretchedness of 
constant apprehension was universal, when no one could guess better 
than another where the next sudden blow would be struck. And to 
whatsoever place the remorseless enemy did come in sufficient 
strength, that place was sure to be ravaged with fire and sword, and 
jts inhabitants to share among them the woes of captivity, widow- 
hood, orphanage and death in all its forms." 

The authorities of Massachusetts became deeply sensible of the 
absolute necessity of carrying the warfare into the enemy's head- 
quarters. Orders were given to Captain Moulton, who was stationed 
at Fort Richmond, to proceed to Norridgewock with an adequate 
force, if possible, to take Father Rasle a prisoner and to destroy the 
Indian village. In pursuance of this order Moulton at once pro- 
ceeded to Norridgewock with two hundred men and succeeded in 



200 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

entering the village before he was discovered by the Indians 
(August 12, 1724). The old men, women and children fled. About 
sixty of the warriors acted on the defensive and fired upon their 
invaders; the Colonial troops returned the fire with fatal effect. 
The warriors who survived the second discharge of the arms of the 
Colonists fled in dismay, Rasle, who took an active part in the 
combat, was shot, as were Mogg and Bomazeen, two noted chiefs. 
The entire loss of the Indians was twenty-seven; the Colonial troops 
did not lose a man. The church and wigwams were burned. "The 
pernicious Popish mission was not renewed, and we read scarcely 
anything more of the Norridgewocks in the history of the tribes."^ 

Several of the soldiers engaged in this attack were from Wells 
and Arundel; among them were John and Nathaniel Wakefield, 
Stephen Larrabee, John Butland and Anthony Littlefield, who 
resided east of Little River, and Samuel Waterhouse, then of 
Arundel, but afterward a citizen of Kennebunk. 



A saw-mill was built by Harding in 17 18 on Gooch's (then 
known as Lawson's) Creek, at the outlet of Lake Brook and quite 
near the navigable waters of the Kennebunk River. It was very 
nicely situated, with abundance of excellent timber in its immediate 
vicinity, but in consequence of the diminutiveness of the water 
power it could not be operated profitably, and the work of sawing 
lumber here was carried on only some twelve or fifteen years. 
Remains of this mill are still to be seen. 



A sad tragedy occurred in the vicinity of this mill in April, 
1724. A sloop belonging to Lynn came into the river and near the 
creek for the purpose of getting a return cargo of spars and lumber. 
Two soldiers, William Wormwood and Ebenezer Lewis, stationed at 
Harding's Garrison, which was only a short distance from the creek, 
were employed by the captain to assist in loading the sloop. While 
thus engaged a small party of Indians fell upon them and Felt (the 
captain) and the sloop's crew, together with Wormwood and Lewis, 
were murdered. They were buried in the field near Butler's Rocks, 
so-called, but no mark exists by which the burial places of these 
victims of savage cruelty can be ascertained. Wormwood was the 
son of Thomas, of the Larrabee village. Bradbury says that the 
father, Thomas, was in command of Harding's Garrison at the time 
this outrage was committed. 

>A11 quotations in this article are from Palfrey's New England. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 201 

Mrs. Shackley was one of the model women of the days of 
Indian troubles, capable, industrious and resolute. Soon after her 
husband had put up and made tenantable the house afterward owned 
and occupied by John Meserve, on the Ross road, Mrs. Shackley 
expressed the wish that some day she might be the possessor of a 
pillow filled with feathers ; she would be glad for her husband to 
have one also, but admitted that she was selfish enough to desire 
to be the first to enjoy this luxury. The remark was often repeated 
as time passed along. Shackley was anxious to gratify this reason- 
able wish of his better half, and, with this object in view, started 
off one morning for the older settlement, and after traveling about 
eight miles succeeded in purchasing a goose and a dozen goose eggs, 
which in due time he landed safely at his home. A pen of brush 
was at once constructed, the eggs properly placed in a nest and the 
fowl was left to manage affairs in its own way. A few days after 
this thoughtful action of the husband, news reached them that war 
had again been declared between England and France and that the 
Indians were already in the vicinity of our settlement. During the 
night of the day on which they heard these unwelcome tidings Mrs. 
Shackley waked up her husband from a sound sleep and assured 
him that she had just heard the crackling of brush near the window, 
caused, she doubted not, by the footsteps of one or more of the 
enemy. The husband ridiculed the idea and the matter dropped. 
The same sound was heard by Mrs. Shackley the following night 
and she was sure she saw an Indian peering in at the window; still 
the story was discredited by Mr. Shackley. The next night both 
heard the crackling and both were confident that they saw an Indian 
at the window. An examination the following morning revealed the 
fact that the brush and grass had been trampled down in the vicinity 
of the window, the door and the goosery. They then followed the 
dictate of prudence, packed up as many valuables as they could 
carry, provided a supply of food for the goose, which the good 
woman left with a sorrowful heart, fastened the house and took up 
their line of march for Larrabee's Fort, which they reached without 
trouble. Days passed on. The Indians were heard from, as near 
by, in all directions, but none were seen near the fort, and no par- 
ticulars of the destruction of life or property reached them. 

One delightful morning Mrs. Shackley was the first in motion 
of the inmates of the fort. "It was the hour of the morning twi- 
light"; everything was still. "I wish I knew," thought the good 
woman, "whether our house or the goose has been meddled with." 



202 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

"I will know," was a second thought, and tying a kerchief over her 
head she proceeded in the direction of her dear home. Near the 
spot where the First Parish Church now stands she turned to make 
a "short cut" through the woods and across the swampy places. 
She had advanced but a few rods on this line when she was con- 
fronted by a large bear with two cubs. The bear growled and 
looked toward her cubs. The woman, who wore a large home-made 
checked apron, shook the garment vigorously and the bear conducted 
her cubs to a place of safety. The woman took advantage of the 
absence of the beast on her motherly errand and sped on her way 
with all possible haste. She reached her home, finding that nothing 
had been touched. The goose strutted about and showed nine fine 
goslings. Goose and progeny were soon in the capacious apron 
and Mrs. Shackley was fort-ward bound, by the Ross-Kimball path, 
the Saco path and the path to Larrabee's, all of which she traveled 
safely and without injury to her precious burden. She found the 
inmates of the fort in great excitement. The watchmen had seen her 
go outside, but nothing more could be learned respecting her move- 
ments. Three or four small parties, armed, were just about starting 
to ascertain her whereabouts as she appeared in sight, bringing the 
glad tidings to her husband that all was safe at the homestead and 
triumphantly exhibiting the goose and goslings. When the war 
cloud had disappeared Mr. and Mrs. Shackley returned to their 
home, the feathered bipeds grew strong and multiplied, and in due 
time both wife and husband rejoiced in the possession of a pillow 
filled with feathers. 



In 173 1 the town increased the salary of its minister. Rev. Mr. 
Jefferds, the prices of labor and the necessaries of life having 
increased so much that it was "but about three-fourths of what it 
was when we agreed with him." 



Benjamin Gooch and Mary Rich, both of Wells, entered their 
intention of marriage with the town clerk March 10, 1735; ^^^ 
father, Peter Rich, "forbids her intention of marriage and making 
out certificate for that end " the seventeenth of the same month. 
Mary, however, Avas married to Paul Goodwin in 1738, which probably 
was more acceptable to the "old folks," and Benjamin did not per- 
mit the matter to "gnaw like a worm," but found a helpmeet at an 
early day after the decisive action of Mary's father. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 203 

John Mark Daniel (McDaniell ?) and Susannah Young entered 
intention of marriage with town clerk October 29, 1737 ; Susannah's 
mother, November i, "forbids any certificate being given therefor." 

The town clerk records the marriage, August i, 1755, of 
"Josiah Perkins and Susanna Allen, of Oak Hill, within the bounds 
of no town"; of John Cousens, the third, and Huldah Littlefield, 
of Jeremiah Littlefield, the fourth, and Dorcas Jones, in 1768 ; also 
the marriage of Sharper, negro servant of Joseph Hill, to Hannah 
Simpson, an Indian woman, February 13, 1744; of Tom and Phillis, 
negro servants of Capt. James Littlefield, in 1776. 



In conveyance of thirty acres of land — James Hubbard and 
Waldo Emerson to James Wakefield — it is desciibed as lying on the 
west side of the road that leads to Kennebunk Upper Mill, about 
eighty rods above the brook on which Emmons's marsh lies. 

In description of bounds of land surveyed in 1742: "On the 
northerly side of Little River, below the Great Eddy." 



The following persons served as jurymen : Nathaniel Kimball, 
in 1737; John Look, John Gillpatrick and Joseph Day, in 1738; 
John Butland, John Wakefield, Thomas Wormvt'ood, Ichabod Cous- 
ens and Moses Stevens in 1739. ^^^ ^o not find the names of any 
others who served in this capacity on the old records. 



"Iron Ledge," off Boothby's Beach, derives its name from the 
fact that, about 1750, a vessel loaded with iron was wrecked there. 
The officers and crew, and we think a part of the cargo, were saved, 
but the vessel was a total loss. The night was very dark and the 
weather extremely cold; the mariners were compelled to swim quite 
a distance and were nearly exhausted when they reached the shore. 
Boothby's house was at once opened for their reception and every- 
thing possible was done for the relief and comfort of the sufferers, 
but, lacking accommodations for all of them, Webber was requested 
to take charge of one or more. He unwillingly admitted one under 
his roof, but this one died, and it was believed for want of proper 
care. The conduct of Webber and his family was, however, charita- 
bly attributed, by his neighbors, to timidity or superstitious notions 
rather than hardheartedness; but, whatever the cause, it fixed a 
stigma upon them which rendered their lives uncomfortable, so 



204 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

that, in a year or two afterward, he sold his farm and moved to an 
eastern township, and this family became extinct in this part of the 
State. For a long time it was believed by many that the Webber 
house was "haunted." At certain hours every night noises like the 
tramping of feet were heard in the room where the sailor died, and 
also piercing shrieks for help proceeding from a figure clothed in 
white and wandering about the house. So ran the ridiculous story, 
which was received with implicit faith by the ignorant and credulous. 
The property fell into the hands of Richard Gillpatrick, who held it 
several years, whether occupied or unoccupied is not known, and 
by him was sold to Benjamin and Nahum Wentworth, and from the 
date of its occupancy by them the ghost was neither seen nor heard. 
The estate is still in possession of the heirs of the Wentworths. 



John Maddox died in 1748. By will he bequeathed to his 
daughter Mary and to his grandsons John and Palsgrove fifty pounds 
each "in old tenor bills." 



At a town meeting held December, 1748, it was voted to build 
a pound thirty feet square and seven feet high, with round white 
pine poles, "as the former pound was," and also a pair of stocks, 
and that twenty-four pounds old tenor be allowed for building both 
structures. 



At a town meeting held in March, 1749, a committee consisting 
of ten persons (two of whom, Benjamin Stevens and Richard 
Boothby, resided in Kennebunk) was raised "to inquire into and 
consider the difference of money and the necessaries of life from 
what they were when the Rev. Mr. Jefferds first settled among us, 
and to see whether the town has made his salary as good from time 
to time as what he first agreed." 



In 1 75 1 Sarah Eels, of Beverly, leased four hundred acres of 
land in Coxhall to Ichabod Cousens. 



In 1757 the town voted "that a good and sufficient pound be 
built in the Second Parish at the charge of the town." This stood 
on Portland Street, nearly opposite the site of the Methodist meet- 
ing-house, on or near the spot where Simpson's blacksmith shop 
afterward stood. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 205 

Wolves, next to the Indians, were the greatest depredators on 
the lives and property of the early settlers in Wells and, indeed, 
throughout New England. For many years, and as late as 1767, 
the town voted annually to pay a bounty on the scalps of all these 
animals that were killed within its territory during the ensuing year. 
Bears were also quite numerous in this vicinity. William Day once 
had a "fight for life" with one of these monsters of the forest. He 
had been at work one afternoon on a piece of land he was clearing 
up near the Sanford road, not far from his dwelling, when, thinking 
he had done a good day's work, he concluded to go home. His axe lay 
several rods distant near a thickly wooded spot. While on his way 
to get this he heard a heavy crackling, and looking in the direction 
of the sound saw an enormous bear close upon him. In a minute 
he was in the embrace of the brute, without knife, club, or any 
means of defense except his fists. These he used to the best advan- 
tage striking to free himself from the grasp of Bruin, whose hugs 
and bites were beginning to occasion him pain and anxiety. At 
length fortune favored him; he was able to pick up a pitch knot to 
defend himself with. The bear hugged him seriously and lacerated 
him somewhat. He succeeded after a hard struggle in putting out 
both eyes of the bear and thus released himself from his embrace. 
We do not learn whether the bear was afterward pursued and killed 
or was thereafter a sightless wanderer through the woods. 



"Deer and Moose Reeves" were among the town officers annu- 
ally elected in Wells from an early date in the last century to near 
its close. We presume it was the duty of those persons who held 
this position to protect deer and moose from wanton destruction. 

"Overseers of the Beach and Drivers thereof" was the title 
given to another class of town officials annually chosen for many 
years during the eighteenth century. The especial duties devolving 
upon these officers we are unable to ascertain ; we think it quite 
probable, however, that their powers and duties were equivalent to 
those conferred on wreck masters of the present day. 



"White's land, so called," often referred to in old documents, 
on the sea road, adjoining land of the late William Wormwood. 

"Moody's line," on "northeast side of Mousam River adjoining 
John Gillpatrick's land," laid out for Samuel Moody. 

" Kennebunk Fort," at the Larrabee settlement, built by Will- 
iam Larrabee, Jr. 



206 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Nathaniel and Richard Kimball bought of Ebenezer Hough 
and others, in 1767, six hundred and thirty acres of upland and 
meadow in Coxhall, "beginning at Wells line, at the southwest end 
of William Larrabee's lot." 



In the list of proprietors of common lands (1772) we find the 
name of "Chad Watson, alias Thomas." 



Jeremiah Folsom, who lived on the Saco road about the middle 
of the eighteenth century, had a curious tradition attached to his 
name. It is said there were three or more John Smiths in the com- 
pany of passengers on board the Diligent the twenty-sixth of April, 
1638, when they sailed from England for Massachusetts. One of 
these who, for the purpose of being distinguished from the others, 
was familiarly called John Foulsham, came from the town of Fouls- 
ham, England, and on his arrival in this country chose to be called 
and known by this name. Thus it came to be handed down to 
posterity. 



The town voted, March, 1786, that after the "tenth day of 
January next" sleds used on the highway shall be "four feet between 
joints." Penalty for non-compliance with this vote, forty shillings. 



The town voted March, 1787, that there be an addition of two 
persons to the number of selectmen heretofore chosen by the town, 
and also to reduce the pay of the selectmen from six pounds to four 
pounds each. Maj. Nathaniel Cousens and Capt. Joseph Hubbard 
were then chosen the additional selectmen under this vote for the 
then current year. The town also voted at the same meeting "that 
one-third part of town meetings shall in future be held in the Second 
Parish, and that the next annual meeting, on the first Monday in 
April next, shall be held there." 



The New Havipshire Spy of February 2, 1791, contains the fol- 
lowing article, dated Portland, January 27th, of that year: 

" On the evening of the 6th inst. Mr. Job Young, traveling west- 
ward on foot through Kennebunk, was overtaken by two sailors, 
knocked down and robbed of four or five dollars. The villians, 
through fear of adding the guilt of murder to robbery, called at the 
next house in great agitation to inform the people that there was a 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 207 

man dying back in the road. There was only a woman in the 
house; she asked them sharply why they did not bring him up. 
They made no reply, but ran off in great haste. The men wore blue 
jackets, long trousers striped with red and white. One of them 
appeared to be about twenty years of age, five feet high, and was 
foul in speech. The other was a middling size, about thirty years of 
age, and talked broken English." 



The following items from the Fortsmout/i Oracle of October lo, 
1801, will be interesting to the descendants of the active men in 
Kennebunk and its vicinity at the commencement of the last century. 

"Left at St. Kitts, 5th Sept., barque Truxton, Merrill, of Ken- 
nebunk, discharging. Market dull." 

Jonathan Storer, of Wells, advertises a runaway, "Jotham 
Bridges, an indented apprentice, eighteen years old." 

Daniel Sewall, postmaster at York, advertises list of letters 
remaining in his office October i, 1801. 

Advertised, as just published, " Miscellaneous Poems, with 
several specimens from the Author's Manuscript Version of the 
Poems of Ossian, by J. M. Sewall, Esq." 

A citizen advertises — "Wanted to purchase 50 Mules. Enquire 
of the Printer." 

The Oracle of July 17, 1802, furnishes the following items: 

"Arrived at Kennebunk, July ist, brig Vengeance, Capt. B. 
Nason, St. Vincents ; brig Oliver, Capt. Stone, Martinico." 

"Married, at Arundel, Mr. Nathaniel Stevens to Miss Eliza- 
beth Day." 

"Died at Biddeford, greatly lamented, on the 9th inst., of the 
yellow fever, Mrs. Elisa, relict of the late Mr. Noah Nason, and 
youngest daughter of the late Rev. Moses Morrill; on the 17th ult., 
of the yellow fever, Mr. Moses Porter, eldest son of Doct. Aaron 
Porter." 



The town voted in 1802 to build a pound in the Second Parish. 



In 1803 the "selectmen returned a list of voters in the town of 
Wells amounting to five hundred and two." 



We find no mention of a formal celebration of the Fourth of 
July in the parish of Kennebunk at an earlier date than 1803. All 



208 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the information we have respecting this is derived from the title 
page of an oration delivered on that occasion as follows: "An Ora- 
tion pronounced at Kennebunk, District of Maine, on the anniver- 
sary of American Independence, July 4, 1803. By Stephen Thacher. 
Libertas 1 sonus delectabilis. — Cicero. Published by request of 
Committee of Arrangements, Samuel Lord, Chairman. Boston, 
David Carlisle [printer], 1803." This production was strongly 
democratic. We think there is but one copy of it extant. 



Henry Clark and forty-one others petition the Circuit Court of 
Common Pleas, September, 1816, "that a new highway and common 
or county road from Kennebunk toll bridge, on Kennebunk River, 
in Wells, to Cobb's Corner, in said Wells, is necessary and would 
be of great public convenience; that for most of said distance the 
road is already made, and a bridge erected over Mousam River, so 
called, where said road passes the same; that the mail stage passes 
over said road one-half the time in going to and returning from 
Portsmouth to Portland, and that the said road is much used by the 
inhabitants of Wells in their intercourse with the port of Kennebunk 
and by the public generally." The town of Wells appointed a com 
mittee to oppose the laying out of the proposed road " at the Court 
of Sessions." The Court granted the prayer of the petition, how- 
ever, and the road was laid out, and the town, April, 18 18, appointed 
a committee to apply to the Circuit Court of Common Pleas to dis- 
continue a part or the whole of the road laid out from Cole's Cor- 
ner, by Samuel Hart's, to the toll bridge over Kennebunk River. 
Probably the committee did not ask for a discontinuance, but, if so, 
their efforts were ineffectual. 



Simpson, Benjamin, was a resident of this town several years 
prior to October, 18 16; he did not remain here more than a year 
after that date. He was a blacksmith and built and worked in a 
shop on the Saco road, nearly opposite the site of the Methodist 
meeting-house. This shop he afterward sold to Stephen Furbish, 
who paid therefor, it is said, "an old-fashioned brass-mounted 
clock." Simpson lived in, and we think built, the house now owned 
and occupied by Henry Jordan. Loammi Hooper rented a part of 
this house a few years and afterward purchased the estate of Simpson. 



Hawks, Thomas, a seaman, came to this town from Lynn, 
Mass., about 18 17 and resided here nearly two years. He fell from 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 209 

the topsail yard of the schooner Beluga, struck his head on the star- 
board anchor and went overboard. His body was recovered and 
was decently interred the next day. He was twenty-three years old 
and appeared to be steady and industrious. 



A severe hail storm, accompanied with thunder and lightning, 
visited this town about four o'clock in the afternoon of the third 
day of August, 1818. The hail broke a large number of panes of 
glass in the village, but the wind occasioned very little damage. In 
Sanford the gale was very severe ; three-fourths of the roof of Rev. 
Mr. Swett's meeting-house was blown off and the building moved 
from its foundation, a barn was blown down and two children, who 
were at play in the haymow, were carried some distance by the 
wind, but without being injured; several sheds and other small 
buildings were blown down. The duration of the gale was about 
twenty minutes and the hailstones were from two to five inches in 
circumference. 



The several regiments of infantry and battalions of cavalry and 
artillery composing the first brigade in the sixth division of Massa- 
chusetts Militia were ordered to parade at Maryland Ridge (near 
Joseph Littlefield's) on the ninth day of September, 18 18, to be 
reviewed by Governor Brooks. Notwithstanding a very severe rain 
storm prevailed during the whole of the night preceding the desig- 
nated day, the officers and soldiers were very generally on or near 
the parade ground at sunrise, but such was the severity of the 
weather that orders were issued from headquarters at an early hour 
for the dismissal of the troops. The review was postponed to the 
thirtieth day of the month, which was very pleasant. The brigade, 
on that day, was commanded by Brigadier General Simon Nowell, 
of Arundel; the several companies exhibited well-filled ranks and 
the conduct and appearance of the soldiery were truly praiseworthy. 

The review fully equaled the expectations of the public. The 
Adjutant General remarked, during his inspection, that some of the 
companies were equal to any in the Commonweath. The Governor, 
having expressed his gratification at the appearance of the troops, 
their equipments, the correctness of their evolutions and their sol- 
dier-like conduct, left the field about four o'clock p. m. and, after 
partaking of a collation furnished by General Nowell, proceeded on 
his way homeward. The day closed without an accident, and the 



210 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

spectators, well pleased with the events of the day, returned to their 
homes peaceably and seasonably. 

"This being the first brigade review M'ithin the county," and 
it being understood that the Governor and Adjutant General were 
to be present, a large concourse of spectators, from every part of 
the county, was present. Kennebunk furnished its full quota and 
the streets of the village were unusually quiet until a little past 
noon when the cry of "fire" brought into the streets the few males, 
who had not forsaken their homes, and a " large company of women." 
A spark from the chimney of Dr. Fisher's house had fallen upon 
the roof, ignited a shingle and the fire was slowly enlarging its area 
when it was opportunely discovered. It was soon extinguished. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NEWSPAPER PRESS. 

The first newspaper published in York County was The Echo, 
in Fryeburg (the Indian Pequmvkef), by Elijah Russell, in 1798. It 
was discontinued in less than a year from the date of the first 
number. Fryeburg, at this time, belonged to York County. When 
Oxford County was formed, in 1805, ^^i^' ^nl^ other towns north of 
the Great Ossipee River, was taken from York and included in the 
new county. 

The first newspaper printed in Kennebunk and the second in 
York County, "as it was," was the The Eagle of Maine, by John 
Whitelock, who came from Portsmouth, N. H. It is not known that 
a copy of this paper has been preserved. We are enabled, however, 
to fix the date of its publication by the following editorial notice 
which appeared in the United States Oracle and Portsmouth Adver- 
tiser, published by William Treadwell & Co., under date of July 17, 
1802: 

"Progress of Correct Principles. Among the late numer- 
ous establishments of Federal papers, we are happy to notice one in 
Kennebunk, District of Maine, by Mr. Whitelock, entitled The 
Eagle of Maine. We hope our Federal brothers of the Type will 
acknowledge his infant exertions by a free and regular exchange." 

Its publication was continued but a short time, probably not 
more than six months. It is not known to what place Whitelock 
removed. Gentlemen who were well acquainted with him, while 
he resided here, always spoke of him as a genial, noble-hearted 
man, but with convivial habits which induced a disastrous result to 
his enterprise; they also spoke of his wife as a lady remarkable 
for her accomplishments and for her truly exemplary life, as 
devotedly attached to her kind and affectionate, but unthrifty, 
husband, and as one accustomed, in girlhood and for several 
years of her married life, to the comforts which prosperity 
affords, but whose later years were darkened by poverty and hard 
toil, privation and suffering.^ Whitelock enlisted in the United 

' Mrs. Nancy, widow of John Whitelock, died in Portsmouth, N. H., Decem- 
ber, 1828, aged 44 years. 

211 



212 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

States service during the War of i8 12-15 ^"^ ^^s a non-commis- 
sioned officer. A part of Colonel Ripley's regiment of Maine troops 
passed through this village, September 10, 18 12, on their way to 
Plattsburg or its vicinity. Whitelock was with them and was per- 
mitted to make a call of an hour's length on the editor and publisher 
of the Visiter, at the printing office. He was as jovial and light- 
hearted as in his better days. He died of fever while in the service. 
Colonel Ripley's troops, above named, halted at Barnard's Tavern 
(now the residence of Mr. Daniel Curtis) and enjoyed themselves 
for a couple of hours on the grounds in front of the house; resum- 
ing their march they proceeded to a favorable location about a mile 
west of the village and encamped for the night. The next morning 
they struck their tents and proceeded toward their destination. 
The Visiter of September 12, 18 12, says: "The troops were in 
complete uniform and exhibited a truly martial appearance." 

The second newspaper printed in Kennebunk was called the 
Annals 0/ the Times, by Stephen Sewall, who issued the first number 
in January, 1803. There are single copies of five numbers of the 
first volume and of four numbers of the second volume of this paper 
in the American Antiquarian Society Rooms in Worcester, Mass. 
It was probably discontinued at the close of the second volume ; it 
is quite certain that the establishment was removed from this place 
to Portsmouth, N. H., in January, 1805. Sewall served his appren- 
ticeship in Portsmouth; he brought with him, when he came here, 
several fonts of type which had been imported from England, 
expressly for him, by an uncle, or, perhaps, a brother. All the 
printing apparatus in his office was new, and although, as regards 
the size of the fonts of common type and the variety of job type, it 
would nowadays be considered quite meager, it was, nevertheless, 
amply sufficient for the requirements of his business. He was a 
first-class workman, as several specimens of his job work have indi- 
cated, which were very neatly executed. After he removed to Ports- 
mouth he published there the Literary Mirror, a bound volume of 
which — comprising all the numbers issued in 1808 — is in possession 
of his descendants. He removed from Portsmouth to Scarborough, 
in this State, where for many years he was a successful and very much 
respected physician of the Thompsonian school. He was a well- 
educated man and possessed considerable poetic talent, evidences 
of which exist in the form of patriotic odes and hymns written by 
him for public celebrations and other festive occasions. He was 
somewhat peculiar — perhaps eccentric — in his manners, but very 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 213 

gentlemanly and kind-hearted. If he had pursued his vocation of 
publisher and editor at a later day, he would, undoubtedly, have 
filled editorial columns with marked ability; but in those days, 
when, in most cases, the subscription lists bore the names of "just 
enough and none to spare" to meet the estimates of receipts and 
expenditures, when advertisements were "few and far between" and 
the calls for job work were by no means frequent, the printer and 
publisher of a country newspaper was compelled to labor diligently 
at "case and press" in order that he might promptly "get out" the 
successive numbers of his small weekly sheet and execute such job 
work as might be offered. He could not afford to hire adult help ; 
an apprentice was usually his only assistant. Original editorial 
matter was not considered essential, and beyond the chronicling of 
local incidents of general interest he devoted very little time to this 
department. For comments on events in foreign countries, or polit- 
ical questions which were prominent topics of discussion in our own 
country, he relied on the most influential journals published in the 
large towns, copying and giving full credit for their "leaders," thus 
indicating his approval of the opinions advanced therein, his belief 
that they embraced all that need be said on the subjects of which 
they treated, and tacitly admitting that they were expressed in lan- 
guage which he did not aspire to improve. In looking over files 
and single numbers of many different papers published between the 
years 1798 and 18 15, it is found that there are few, if any, exceptions 
to this rule, as applied to papers published in country towns, while 
the editors of those published in larger towns did not generally 
devote much space to this department. 

A few weeks, or at most a few months, after the discontinuance 
of Sewall's paper, William Weeks, who also served his apprentice- 
ship in Portsmouth, commenced the publication of the Kennebimk 
Gazette. Very little is known about this sheet. A single copy of 
the nineteenth number, dated July 24, 1805, has been preserved. 
It is evident that the patronage received was not satisfactory, and 
that the outlook for a more prosperous future was anything but flat- 
tering, inasmuch as he had removed to Saco and issued the first 
number of the first paper printed in that town, August 21, 1805. 
The Gazette could not have been published more than six months. 
His paper in Saco was called the Freeman's Friend. In the first 
number there are two advertisements by persons doing business in 
Kennebunk and a notice of the marriage, in Wells, of Capt. William 
Gooch to Miss Hannah, daughter of John Storer, Esq. How long 



214 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Mr. Weeks remained in Saco is not known with certainty; probably, 
however, not longer than a year or eighteen months. He removed 
from Saco to Portland and there published a paper with the same 
title, Freeman's Friend. He had not been in Portland a year when 
his establishment was destroyed by fire. In July, 1809, he was 
publisher of the New Hampshire Gazette in Portsmouth. He married 
Abigail, daughter of Dimond Hubbard, of Kennebunk. Mr. Weeks 
was a good printer, courteous in his manners, and a man of fair lit- 
erary ability. He died August 8, 1839, aged fifty-six years. 

The three newspapers of which we have spoken, viz., The Eagle 
of Maine, Annals of the Times and Kennebunk Gazette, were printed 
in a small building that stood near the street, between the dwelling- 
houses owned by Capt. John Hill and Mr. John Cousens, The 
private way leading by Mrs. L. H. Kimball's to Bourne's dwelling- 
house had not then been laid out. After the building had been vacated 
by Weeks, it was wholly occupied by Enoch Hardy, a tobacconist, 
who purchased it and about 1812 removed it to the lot afterward 
owned by Mr. John G. Downing and adjoining that on which his 
dwelling-house stands. In 18 16 it was advertised "for sale or to 
let." It was not occupied by Hardy after its removal, as, in 1810, 
he built the store recently owned and occupied by Mr. Andrew 
Walker, and removed his tobacco manufactory and salesroom thereto 
as early, doubtless, as 181 1. Hardy succeeded Jeremiah M. Stick- 
ney, a tobacconist. Stickney was one of the original subscribers to 
the Wells Social Library, organized in December, 1801, and must 
have been a resident here at that date. He sold his Library share 
to William Weeks early in 1805. It is believed that both Stickney 
and Hardy came here from Bradford, Mass. 

The building was occupied by Humphrey Chadbourne, as a 
carpenter's shop, three or four years — say from 1818 to 1822 — sub- 
sequently by Mr. Israel W. Bourne. It was then known as "The 
Academy" and had the imposing addition of a belfry and therein a 
bell. Bourne removed to Dover, N. H., and was succeeded by 
Misses Lord and Lewis, both from Portland, who taught school 
there a year or two. 

When vacated as a schoolroom it was fitted up for a tenement 
house, — was subsequently occupied by several different families, — 
but became dilapidated and unseemly, until it was regarded as very 
nearly allied to a nuisance, when it was sold, removed to the Port, 
and is now improved as a stable. The Darwinian theory starts man 
as a member of the monkey tribe, with a caudal appendage, but per- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 215 

mits him, in process of time, to shed the ungraceful "annex" and 
to attain to a wonderful degree of personal beauty and intellectual 
greatness. This theory is completely reversed when applied to 
inanimate things — for instance, to buildings. These, as a general 
rule, are best at the start, gradually, but surely, diminishing in 
beauty and strength, from decade to decade, until, weather-beaten, 
neglected, shattered and untenantable, they are converted to "base 
uses," occupying locations and devoted to purposes which it never 
entered into the imaginations of the builders as a possible future of 
structures erected at so much cost and labor, and, when completed, 
contemplated with so much gratification and pride. 

The fourth newspaper printed in Kennebunk was the Weekly 
Visiter, by James K. Remich, who served his apprenticeship in 
Dover, N. H., with his uncle, Samuel Bragg, Jr., proprietor and 
editor of the Sun. In 1808, having supplied himself with type, 
presses, etc., he opened a job office, temporarily, in Dover, propos- 
ing to execute such work as might offer, to get his printing materials 
in good running order, and in the meantime to seek a desirable 
place for a permanent location. Thinking favorably of his neighbors 
"across the line," he was about to issue proposals for publishing a 
paper in Berwick — in fact, he circulated a few copies of the prospectus 
— when he was solicited by several citizens of Kennebunk (George 
W, Wallingford, Benjamin Smith and the members of the firm of 
Waterston, Pray & Co.), who came here from Dover and towns in its 
vicinity and with whom he was acquainted, to relinquish his plan in 
that direction and to turn his attention hitherward. He accordingly 
visited this village in 1809, and being pleased with its appearance 
and with the cordiality of its citizens he shortly after issued propos- 
als for publishing the Weekly Visiter. The success attending his 
prospectus and the good feeling manifested in regard to the enter- 
prise may be learned from the following characteristic note which 
he received from Dr. Emerson : 

"Kennebunk, iSth March, 1809. 
Mr. fames K. R'.micJi, Dover. 

Sir: — Your subscription goes on swimingly, but I think you 
will lose ground by delay. Come immediately if you regard your 
interest or the wishes of your subscribers. Mr. Hayes has shown 
me your letter, in which you contemplate the first of May. Say the 
first of April and you will come much nearer the mark. A word to 
the wise, etc. Yours, in haste, 

Samuel Emerson." 



216 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Mr. Remich did not, however, remove his printing apparatus to 
this town until the first of June. The delay was occasioned by the 
illness of his uncle, at whose earnest request he remained in Dover 
and took charge of the Sun office until the proprietor was enabled 
to resume his duties. 

The first number of the Weekly Visiter is dated June 24, i8og. 
The editor, in his introductory, says : " It may perhaps be urged 
that the multiplicity of Gazettes with which our country already 
teems affords ample means for the dissemination of that kind of 
information usually contained in a newspaper." Aside from the 
Visiter, it is believed there were but four newspapers then published 
in the State — a fact which, taken in connection with the apologetic 
tone of the foregoing extract, leads to the inference that most of the 
people in those bygone years were not over anxious about the news 
of the day, or were quite satisfied with such scraps of intelligence as 
they could gather from the "squire," who took a paper, the neighbor 
who had been to town, or the passing traveler. 

The number of subscribers to the Visiter at the commencement 
of its publication was 457. A respectable list of names had been 
sent in from each of the nineteen towns which then comprised the 
County of York. Just as the outside form of the first number was 
ready for the press, the publisher received a list of seventy subscrib- 
ers from Dover, accompanied with the following note : " If you do 
not succeed, send our bills for the time you do print the paper; if 
you do succeed, when you feel you are 'fairly out of the woods' dis- 
continue the paper (unless otherwise requested) and send bills for 
payment." Although the public appeared to be well pleased with 
the paper, although the advertising patronage was quite equal to his 
expectations and job work came in more freely than he had antici- 
pated, still the first year's experience of the publisher was a hard 
one. His cash receipts were less than his unavoidable cash expen- 
ditures, the accessions to his subscription list which had been con- 
fidently predicted were not forthcoming, and, moreover, he was 
becoming decidedly of the opinion that the attempt to publish a 
strictly neutral paper, in the then existing state of public feeling in 
this vicinity, would be attended with difficulties that he did not care 
to encounter. Influenced by these considerations, he gave notice, a 
few weeks before the close of the first volume, that unless he received 
a satisfactory addition to his subscription list, and to the money 
contents of his pocketbook as well, he should remove his establish- 
ment to Berwick at the end of the year. The response to this notice 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 217 

was gratifying; new subscribers came in, bills were cashed, and 
encouraging words were spoken. At the commencement of the 
second volume the Dover volunteers were discharged, or such of 
them as desired to be, and the enterprise was considered a success. 
At the commencement of the fourth volume the Visiter was enlarged; 
after the incorporation of the town, in 1820, it was again enlarged 
and the title changed to Kennebunk Gazette; in 1824 its neutral 
position was abandoned; in 1831 the publisher purchased \\\q. Maine 
Palladium establishment, in Saco, and brought it to Kennebunk, 
and thereafter issued his paper under the title of the Kefinebunk 
Gazette and Maine Palladiimi ; at the close of the thirty-third vol- 
ume, in June, 1842, it was discontinued. From 1809 to 1827 James 
K. Remich was proprietor and editor; from 1827 to 1842 the paper 
was under the editorial management of Daniel Remich. It cannot 
justly be said that the Gazette was discontinued for want of patron- 
age, although the income of the establishment had been seriously 
diminished in consequence of the publication of papers in other 
towns of the county, of the diversion of trade from this village, and 
of the discontinuance of an important mail route from this place to 
several of the interior towns, which was no longer required after the 
P. S. & P. Railroad had been completed. The controlling motive 
for this step was the absolute necessity of adopting some measure 
by which the debts due to the proprietor might be pleasantly 
collected, and this seemed to be the most feasible, if not the only 
practicable, means of attaining the desired end. At the time of its 
discontinuance it was proposed to resume its publication in the 
course of two or three years, but in consequence of the ill health of 
the proprietor and the disinclination of the editor to resume his 
labors the plan was abandoned. The office was continued in opera- 
tion several years later and was fairly patronized as a job printing 
office, although much the larger and more valuable part of the 
apparatus was sold within two years from the date of the discontin- 
uance of the Gazette; the "odds and ends" were not disposed of 
until about 1850. 

A few numbers of the Farmer^ s Friend and Laboring Man^s 
Advocate were issued from the Gazette office during the summer of 

183 1. It was a campaign paper, in large quarto form, four pages, 

and was made up chiefly of political articles published in the Gazette. 

Large editions of these numbers were printed and widely circulated. 
It is apparent that at the date of the commencement of the 

Visiter a change in regard to the benefit of advertising had been 



218 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

wrought in public opinion. It is probable that the Visiter's sub- 
scription list was considerably larger than that of either of its prede- 
cessors. Those who advertised found that their "wants," whether 
to buy or sell, were made known in every town in the county, and 
shrewd men began to comprehend that it was for their personal 
interest in a business point of view, apart from the benefits derived 
therefrom, to become patrons of the county paper. 

The vignette which formed a part of the head of the Visiter 
from October, 1817, to June, 1820, was an accurate representation of 
the "Two Acres" at that time, when the Gillespie house was the 
only building thereon and served the various purposes of dwelling- 
house, barn, etc., and of the view therefrom at the time it was drawn 
and engraved by Morse, of Haverhill and Boston, then a well-known 
designer and engraver. 

From June, 1842, to January, 1878, a period of thirty-six years, 
Kennebunk was without a newspaper. At the last-named date W. 
Lester Watson moved the Eastern Star establishment from Bidde- 
ford to Kennebunk. It has been continued from that time to the 
present and we infer with a good measure of success. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS IN KENNEBUNK AND VICINITY FROM 1809 
TO 1820, COMPILED FROM THE COLUMNS OF THE "WEEKLY 
VISITER." 

In looking over the old files of the Visiter^ we find many items 
descriptive of occurrences, at different times and places, in this town 
and its vicinity, which rightfully should be noticed in this volume. 
Some of these, if rewritten, could not be improved; of some only a 
brief notice is required. In whatever manner they may be pre- 
sented they will form a melange, but we think an interesting one. 
We decide, therefore, to devote a few pages exclusively to their 
publication, copying, abridging or barely noticing, as may be 
deemed expedient. 

The Federal Republicans of Kennebunk and vicinity celebrated 
the Fourth of July (1809) with appropriate exercises. The Visiter 
published a full account of the proceedings, which will be found 
slightly abridged, with several of the toasts entire, in Bourne's His- 
tory. At Arundel the day was celebrated by the citizens without 
distinction of party. " The sound of cannon and display of colors 
from the shipping welcomed the rising sun ; at noon they assembled 
at Mr. Robert Sugden's, where they sat down to an excellent 
dinner." Robert Towne, Esq., presided, assisted by Maj. Simon 
Nowell as vice president. Dinner disposed of, several patriotic 
toasts were drunk, "free from the alloy of party allusions." At 
Alfred the day was celebrated " by the principal citizens of that 
town and of the neighboring towns without distinction of party." 
At the dwelling-house of Amos Grandy a procession was formed, 
which proceeded to the meeting-house, where prayers were offered 
by Rev. Joseph Brown and Rev. Moses Sweat, and an oration was 
delivered by John Holmes."^ After these exercises the procession 

^We prefer to retain the old style of spelling "visiter," which was in use at 
the time the Weekly Visiter was established, when quoting from or referring to 
that paper. 

'The following extract from Mr. Holmes's Fourth of July oration (1809) enun- 
ciates doctrines that will appear harsh and impracticable to modern politicians: 
"Be jealous of the man who boasts much of his love of liberty, who would per- 

219 



220 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

re-formed and moved to the courthouse, where about eighty persons 
sat down to an excellent dinner prepared by Daniel Holmes. 
William Parsons presided, assisted by Abiel Hall, vice president. 
Several appropriate toasts were given, one of which we transcribe : 
"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As she was the first, may 
she continue to be X\i& principal, pillar in the temple of liberty." 

1810, March 24, by the arrival at this port of brig Somers, Cap- 
tain Fletcher, from St. Bartholomew, we have news from London to 
January 23d, three days later than before received in this country. Lon- 
don papers of that date, received at St. Bartholomew before Fletcher 
left that island, state that the French decrees had been repealed 
and that the British orders in council would now be repealed, of course. 

The town of Wells was assessed in the tax act of 18 10, for the 
payment of its representatives to the Massachusetts Legislature of 
1809, four hundred and eight dollars. The next highest tax paid in 
the county was by Berwick, two hundred and ten dollars. 

Schooner Miranda, Captain Perkins, from this port for St. Bar- 
tholomew, was brought to January 13, 18 10, by the British Letter 
of Marque Ship John, Richard Reed, from Cape Francois, of and 
for Liverpool. The officers of the British ship used very abusive 
language to Captain Perkins, sent him on board their ship, and ran- 
sacked his vessel. They took from the Miranda a barrel of beef, 
two barrels of bread, a barrel of potatoes, a box of fish, a barrel of 
apples, six turkeys and thirty-six fowls, and offered in payment 
about one-third their value in the West Indies. On refusing to take 
the money tendered, the captain was threatened that his vessel 
should be put in charge of a prize master and crew. Captain Per- 
kins was detained a little more than six hours. 

John Anderson, of Wiscasset, Maine, a merchant aged forty-six 
years, died suddenly at Jefferds's the twenty-fifth of May. He was 
a native of the north of Ireland and came to this country with his 
wife in 1793. He left a widow and four sons, one of whom was a 
distinguished Democratic politician of this State, holding at one 
time the office of governor thereof. His remains were interred in 

suade you that his political opponents are about to enslave you, and that he and 
his partisans are your only friends. This may be the patriotic zeal of an honest 
man, but it is too often the canting hypocrisy of a scoundrel. The man loho solic- 
its your suffrages is unworthy your confidence. Inquire into the motives of all 
the office seekers who at this day infest your country, and see whether they are 
founded on real patriotism or private emolument. The restless, ambitious and 
unprincipled will not be contented while out of office, and tiie people will never 
be happy while they are in.'' 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 221 

the cemetery near the Unitarian Church. A heavy slate slab, with 
an appropriate inscription, covers his grave. 

"The York County Medical Association" met at Jefferds's 
Tavern September eleventh. Samuel Emerson was chosen Presi- 
dent; Jacob Fisher and Abial Hall, of Alfred, First and Second 
Associates; Richard Hazeltine, of Berwick, Secretary, and Joseph 
Gilman, of Wells, Treasurer. 

There were only twenty towns in York County in 1809. 

On the first of April, 1810, there were one hundred and thirty- 
three banks and branches in the United States with a nominal capi- 
tal exceeding fifty-eight million dollars. 

Census of Wells in 18 10. Males, two thousand one hundred 
and eighty-one; females, two thousand three hundred and one; 
colored, seven. Total, four thousand four hundred and eighty-nine. 

Arundel, males, one thousand one hundred and eighty-two; 
females, one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight; colored, 
eleven. Total, two thousand three hundred and seventy-one. 

Biddeford, males, eight hundred and twenty-four; females, 
seven hundred and thirty; colored, nine. Total, one thousand five 
hundred and sixty-three. 

Rev, Andrew Sherburne communicated to the editor of the 
Visiter the foregoing census returns and also the following state- 
ment: "Amongst the household manufacturers in this division 
none have as yet been discovered who appear to have excelled a 
Mrs. Bourne, of Kennebunk [Mrs. Capt. John Bourne]. She occa- 
sionally employs three looms, one of which carries the fly-shuttle. 
Within eight months this family have woven two hundred and twen- 
ty-two yards of cloth of different kinds in this loom, which at the 
lowest value is worth one hundred and twenty-three dollars and 
ninety cents. The other two looms are constructed to weave cotton 
counterpanes the whole width. In one of these wide looms has 
been woven the season past, by one young woman, twenty-one coun- 
terpanes, worth on an average seventeen dollars each, and in the 
other they have woven ten counterpanes, worth ten dollars each, 
amounting in the whole to four hundred and fifty-seven dollars, and 
the total manufactures to five hundred and eighty dollars and ninety 
cents. The labor expended is thought not to exceed the constant 
labor of three women with the assistance of children." 



222 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK.. 

The shed and barn belonging to Michael Wise were destroyed 
by fire March i, 1811 ; the fire was occasioned by depositing ashes 
in the shed. The night was unusually calm ; "had it been otherwise 
no efforts could have prevented the entire destruction of the most 
populous part of the village." The editor of the Visiter urges the 
inhabitants of the village " to hasten the long-contemplated purchase 
of a fire engine." 

Arrived at this port, April first, brig Charles, Perkins, Grenada, 
cargo rum, and schooner Confidence, Thompson, Damarara, cargo 
rum and molasses. " Both these vessels were seized by the collector 
and the property bonded." 

"Phillips Limerick Academy" was dedicated on the last Tues- 
day in February, 181 1, and opened for the reception of students on 
the first Monday in March, same year, Rev. W. Gregg, of Portland, 
Preceptor, E. Eastman, President, and William Swasey, Secretary. 

We show the politics of the people of Wells as indicated by its 
votes for Governor and members of Congress between the years 
1809 and 18 18. The total number of votes for Federal Governor 
during the nine years that intervened was three thousand seven 
hundred and eighty against nine hundred and twenty-six cast for 
Republican Governor in the same time. 

November, 18 10, Richard Cutts was the Republican candidate 
for member of Congress, and Cyrus King, of Saco, the Federal can- 
didate. The vote throughout the district was very small. Cutts 
was elected. Wells gave King sixty-four votes and Cutts twenty- 
eight. The Federalists did not make any formal nomination ; the 
Republicans were not united, many of them throwing scattering votes. 

November, 1812, Wells gave King six hundred and twenty-two 
votes and Cutts forty-one. 

November, 1814, Wells threw King five hundred and sixty 
votes, while John Holmes received but fifty-five. 

Dr. Moses Hemmenway, one of the most distinguished divines 
of his time, died in Wells, April 18, 181 1. The Visiter of May 
fourth contains a finely written notice of the deceased and also a 
poem of uncommon merit to his memory. " For more than half a 
century he was the beloved and respected pastor of the first church 
in Wells. As a man of talents, a scholar and theologian, he was 
probably second to few clergymen which the United States have 
produced." His funeral was attended by a larger assemblage of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 223 

people than was perhaps ever seen on a similar occasion in the 
District of Maine. The funeral eulogium was pronounced by Dr. 
Buckminster, of Portsmouth, with great pathos and effect." 

Joseph Moody and John U. Parsons, with three other gentle- 
men belonging to the First Parish, were chosen, May ii, 1811, to 
represent Wells in the Massachusetts Legislature. 

July 4, 181 1, "the sable color of the times did not prevent the 
Federalists of Wells from commemorating the birthday of liberty." 
The usual program of exercises on such occasions was very success- 
fully carried out; prayer by Rev. Mr. Fletcher, oration by Dr. 
Samuel Emerson, an original patriotic song by Stephen Sewall. We 
give two lines of the first verse : 

"That all have their hobbies, a doctrine not new, 
Trace man from creation, you'll find it most true," 

and the thirteenth and concluding verse entire : 

" Be America's hobby to live free or die, 
Her independence be written with stars in the sky, 
There shine till high heaven's glorious orb veils his rays 
And unbounded creation is wrapt in a blaze." 

Nathaniel Wells was President of the day, George W. Walling- 
ford, Vice President and Marshal. In reading the account of the 
day's proceedings we noticed that there was no mention of the ring- 
ing of the bell, that the procession moved from Jefferds's at twelve, 
an unusual hour, and that the exercises were in Washington Hall. 
We were led to seek an explanation of these notable features in the 
description of the ceremonies. It appears that the Federalists did 
not anticipate any demonstration on the part of the Republicans 
and had concluded not to make any themselves on this anniversary. 
The Republicans improved this condition of things by making appli- 
cation to the parish assessors for the use of the church, including 
the bell of course, for a party gathering on the then coming Fourth. 
This request was very reluctantly granted, but no good reason 
existed why it should be denied. We can ascertain no other partic- 
ulars in regard to their celebration than that they occupied the 
church, caused the bell " to give forth merry peals," that the pro- 
cession formed at and moved from Barnard's Tavern, that the oration 
was by Stephen Thacher, and that a dinner was provided at Bar- 
nard's. Finding that the Republicans had "stolen the march upon 
them," the Federalists got up a counter celebration which was satis- 
factory in all respects. The orations by Dr. Emerson and Mr. 



224 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Thacher were printed (the former at the Visiter office and the latter 
in Boston). Copies of both are now extant. No mention is made 
of the Republican celebration in the Visiter. It appears that the 
Republicans of Arundel had a party celebration of the day. The 
editor of the Visiter remarks that accounts of Republican celebra- 
tions, if handed in for publication, will be cheerfully inserted in his 
columns, 

( Visiter of July 6.) Married in this town, on Sunday evening 
last, by Joseph Storer, Esq., Mr. William Edes, aged sixty, to Miss 
Hannah Muchmore, aged thirty. 

There's something so comical in't, 

I ne'er was so tickled by half ; 
And were I to die the next minute, 

I verily think I should laugh. 

The annual meeting of the " Kennebunk Musical Society," 
John Skeele, Secretary, occurred November 19, 181 1. 

Dr. Abial Hall, of Alfred, sends to the Visiter a long and valu- 
able communication in regard to the spotted fever, which had made 
its appearance in that town and had proved fatal in several cases. 
Dr. Fisher also sends a timely and able article on this disorder, by 
Dr. Woodward, of Connecticut, with prefatory remarks. Dr. Fisher, 
in a succeeding number, gives directions to persons exposed to or 
attacked by spotted fever. The Doctor could not permit so good 
an opportunity for a joke to slip by unimproved. He concludes his 
remarks as follows : " Direct the messenger who goes for the 
doctor to get some wine and rum, gin or brandy, so that they may 
arrive about the time the doctor does." (March, 1812.) 

A large meeting of Federal Republicans was held at Kenne- 
bunk the tenth of March, 1812. Jeremiah Hill was chosen chair- 
man and Daniel Sewall, clerk. Nominations were made, resolutions 
and an address to the people adopted. 

A legal town meeting was held in Lyman in July, 18 12, "to 
take into consideration the present alarming situation of our public 
affairs and particularly to express an opinion on the subject of the 
present war. A vote was passed, almost unanimously, declaring 
that the war was inexpedient, ruinous and highly impolitic." Reso- 
lutions and a memorial to the President were adopted. 

Brig Dromo, Perkins, arrived at this port August 8, 18 12, hav- 
ing on board, as passengers, Captain Cazneau, and Samuel Badger, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 225 

seaman, the only survivors of the crew and passengers of the brig 
Polly, of Boston, one hundred and thirty tons, which sailed from 
Boston for St. Croix, December 12, 181 1, with a cargo of lumber 
and provisions and a crew of seven persons and two passengers. 
On the fifteenth, during a violent gale from the southeast, the brig 
was upset and became a complete wreck. In this situation they 
floated on the ocean one hundred and ninety days, enduring sufifer- 
ings almost unparalleled. One of the passengers was washed over- 
board and the other died from the effects of exposure; five of the 
crew died of starvation and thirst. The survivors were rescued by 
the master of an English vessel on the twentieth of June, 18 12, who 
fell in with the Dromo in the English Channel, bound out, July ninth. 
Captain Perkins took them on board his vessel and brought them to 
this port, whence they proceeded to Boston. Captain Cazneau fur- 
nished the editor of the Visiter with a long and detailed narrative of 
the sufferings, hopes and disappointments of the parties to this 
dreadful catastrophe. It was published at length in the Visiter of 
August twenty-second. 

The encounter between the United States frigate Constitution 
and the English frigate Guerriere, August 19, 18 12, which resulted 
in the capture and destruction of the English vessel by Commodore 
Isaac Hull, of the Constitution, was hailed throughout the country 
with the liveliest demonstrations of joy. The Visiter of the fifth of 
September says : "As soon as the brilliant achievement of Capt. 
Isaac Hull, in the capture of the Guerriere, was known to our citi- 
zens they assembled by a sort of involuntary impulse to congratu- 
late each other on the event. Every countenance spoke feelings of 
national pride and satisfaction at this exploit of our gallant, though 
neglected, little navy. The bell rang, the cannon roared, a collation 
was served out-of-doors, after which patriotic toasts were drank," etc. 

Brig Advance, from Liverpool for New Orleans, said to be in 
distress, having sprung her foremast, put into this port September 
fifteenth. She had a full cargo of English goods, consigned to a 
gentleman in New Orleans. These goods were seized by the col- 
lector of the port. By the politeness of Captain Coit, of the Advance, 
the editor of the Visiter was furnished with London papers to August 
first and Liverpool to the third, from which copious extracts were 
published. 

A part of Colonel Ripley's regiment arrived in this town on the 
afternoon of the tenth of September, 1812, and after a brief halt at 



226 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Barnard's proceeded to a field about a mile west of the village, 
where they spent the night. On the following morning they struck 
their tents and resumed their march to Plattsburg. They were in 
complete uniform and made a fine appearance. They arrived at 
Plattsburg the first week in October. 

The Friends of Peace from the several towns in the First Easf 
em Congressional District assembled at Jefferds's the twenty-third 
of September, from whence they marched in procession to the meet- 
ing-house, where they organized. Cyrus King was unanimously 
nominated as candidate for member of Congress from this district, 
and, being present, signified his acceptance in a brief and appro- 
priate speech. Nine hundred persons attended the convention. 

A correspondent of the Visiter, April, 1813, names the following 
gentlemen as the leading Republicans in this county at that date : 
Berwick, Judge Greene, Lawyer Bradbury, Mr. Currier and Captain 
Prime; Lebanon, Esquire Wood; Sanford, Esquire Hobbs and 
Esquire Allen; Shapleigh, Esquire Emery and Esquire Bodwell; 
Alfred, Esquire Holmes ; Wells, Esq. Joseph Storer and Judge 
Thacher; Saco, Esquire Granger, Doctor Thornton, Esquire Preble, 
Esquire Pike; HoUis, Colonel Lane. 

George W. Wallingford, John Low and John Bourne, of the 
Second Parish, with two gentlemen from the First, were chosen to 
represent Wells in the Massachusetts Legislature, 1S13. 

There was no public demonstration in this town on the Fourth 
of July, 18 13, but about one hundred and fifty persons, of both 
sexes, chiefly belonging to the village, celebrated the day by a water 
party. Two or three large gondolas, nicely fitted up for the occa- 
sion, which were towed down the river by two "long boats," fur- 
nished accommodations for all of the party who preferred this mode 
of conveyance; a number of the young men made quicker passage 
in sailboats. An awning was erected in the open field, in full view 
of the ocean, where the company partook of refreshments. After 
the collation a number of volunteer toasts were given. The party 
returned in good season and were met at Mousam Landing (near 
the "Creek") by the "Juvenile Infantry Company," commanded 
by Master John Frost, under the escort of which they marched to 
Washington Hall. A select band of music, under the direction of 
Dr. Samuel Emerson, added greatly to the pleasure of the entertain- 
ment. The day was remarkably fine and one of perfect enjoyment 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 227 

to every member of the party. The "Juvenile Infantry Company" 
was composed of about thirty lads of from ten to fifteen years of 
age, all of whom wore neat and appropriate uniforms and exhibited 
on parade and on the march excellent discipline. Young Frost, it 
is said, was remarkably well qualified for his position of commander. 
The company was in high favor with the citizens, and on its " train- 
ing days" was always provided with a generous lunch. We think 
it maintained its organization and good standing for several years. 

There were three cases of impressment of American seamen 
belonging to the port of Kennebunk, by the British, from 1800 to 
1813. We cannot find the names or any other particulars of the 
first and second. The third and last was Samuel Littlefield, of 
Wells, who was taken from brig Agenoria, Jonathan Downing, mas- 
ter, while lying in a West India port, in 1804. 

The dwelling-house of Joseph Dane, together with the barn 
and woodhouse belonging thereto, was burned at two o'clock on the 
afternoon of September twenty-fifth, 18 13. The furniture in the 
house was saved; the contents of the barn and woodshed (where the 
fire originated) were consumed. These buildings stood precisely 
opposite the dwelling-house formerly occupied by Joseph Porter. 

John Holmes, of Alfred, was elected State Senator from York 
County in April, 18 14, by a majority of eight hundred and sixty- 
nine votes. 

A public dinner was given by citizens of Kennebunk to Cyrus 
King, member of Congress from York District, May 5, 1814, "in 
testimony of their approbation of his able and arduous efforts to 
restore our suffering country to her former prosperity." About 
eighty gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner at Jefferds's. 
Toasts were drunk, with appropriate music. Jacob Fisher presided. 

Mayall & Radcliffe, under date of June 3, 1814, "return their 
grateful acknowledgments to the inhabitants of Kennebunk for their 
kind assistance in preserving their property in the late destructive 
freshet." 

The spotted fever, nearly allied to the typhus, but characterized 
by the appearance of dark spots on the body, made its appearance 
in this town in the spring of 18 15. It was contagious and quite 
fatal. There were many cases in Wells, First and Second Parishes, 
Arundel and Lyman. It had been prevalent in Alfred (18 12) and 
later in almost all, if not all, the interior towns in the county; in 



228 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

every town visited by it there had been a number of fatal cases. 
We have heard it stated that no contagious disease ever known in 
Kennebunk, while a parish or since its incorporation, was attended 
with so great mortality as was this. 

Daniel Sewall, clerk of the Judicial Courts and register of pro- 
bate for York County, purchased the dwelling-house, lately owned 
and occupied by John U. Parsons, and took possession thereof, hav- 
ing removed from York to Kennebunk, in August, 1815. He kept 
his offices in one of the rooms, fitted up for the purpose, in the 
dwelling-house. 

The dwelling-house of Mr. Seth Littlefield, situated on the 
Sanford road, was destroyed by fire the twelfth of October, 1815, 
together with all the corn and potatoes raised by him the (then) past 
season and the larger part of his household furniture, clothing, etc. 

The Association of Ministers, in the easterly part of York 
County, by their Moderater, Paul Coffin, of Buxton, and their Scribe, 
Rev. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, of Kennebunk, recommend in a notice 
dated October 13, 1815, the formation of a Bible Society in York 
County, and propose that a meeting of persons favorable to this 
movement be held at the meeting-house in Kennebunk on the eighth 
of November following. 

The grist mill, fulling mill and blacksmith's shop belonging to 
Mr. Edward Nason, in Arundel ("Nason's Mills"), were destroyed 
by fire on the night of March 28, 18 16. Most of the contents of 
the fulling mill were saved. 

The first elephant ever seen in this town was exhibited at Major 
Jefferds's, in one of the barns belonging to his tavern stand, on the 
twenty-third and twenty-fourth of May, 18 16. It was said to be the 
only one then in America. She landed in Boston, from India, about 
1806. She was fifteen years old, measured twenty feet from end of 
her trunk to that of her tail, was thirteen feet round the body, 
upward of eight feet in height, and weighed more than six thousand 
pounds. After having been exhibited in a number of towns in 
Maine, and while on her return to Boston, this elephant was killed 
in Alfred, a short distance from the village, on the twenty-fourth day 
of July, 1 8 16, by a miscreant (sheltered from the sight of the keeper 
and a few citizens who were following the animal), who discharged 
at her a musket loaded with two balls, both of which entered her 
body a little back of the shoulder bone. After being shot she trav- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 229 

eled a few rods, then fell and expired. She had traveled through 
every State and Territory of the United States and never before 
received an injury. The perpetrator of this outrage was never dis- 
covered. No motive could be imagined for the infamous act. 

James Mayall, of the firm of Mayall & Radcliffe, woolen manu- 
facturers, of this town, fell from Durrell's Bridge on the seventh of 
October, 1816, late in the evening, and was drowned. The bridge 
was narrow and on the Arundel side was without railing. He was 
forty-two years of age, a native of Yorkshire, England. He was an 
industrious man, a good citizen and much esteemed by his townsmen. 

At the election for member of Congress, November 4, 18 16, 
Wells gave King three hundred and three votes (two hundred and 
fifty-seven less than he received in November, 18 14,) and Holmes 
sixty-three votes (eight more than in 1814). At Alfred, in 1816, 
King attended a county convention in favor of separation, and 
accepted the position of chairman. This step alienated many of 
his warmest and most influential political friends, who declined 
voting for him or making any efforts in his behalf. In the district, 
compared with the preceding election, his loss was six hundred and 
ninety-four votes, while Holmes gained only twenty-four votes. 

The year 1816 was very cold throughout and the growing corn, 
cereals and vegetables were seriously injured — in many localities 
almost entirely destroyed — by the frosts. There were severe frosts 
in northern New England every month in the year. We find it 
stated that "thirteen thousand bushels of St, Domingo corn had 
been imported into Connecticut up to the nineteenth of October in 
that year." In April, 1817, corn sold in Kennebunk for two dollars 
per bushel, and hay for two dollars per hundred. The season of 
18 1 7, however, was more favorable, and the crops, as a whole, 
abundant. 

Brig Mary, of Kennebunk, John D. Wilson, master, was so 
seriously damaged in a gale of wind in the vicinity of Long Island, 
N, Y., January 18, 1817, that it was found necessary to abandon her 
on the twenty-seventh of February, in latitude 41 deg., 25 min., lon- 
gitude 23 deg., 30 min., after drifting about the ocean forty days and 
after many unsuccessful attempts to make a port. She left St. Pierre 
the twenty-first of December, 18 16, bound for Salem, Mass., with a 
full cargo of molasses, hides, logwood, etc. Before leaving the 
wreck the officers and crew were reduced to an allowance of two 



230 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

ounces of meat and half a biscuit to each man, for twenty-four 
hours, with an addition of green hides as a substitute for meat, 
which, however, was found to be exceedingly unwholesome. The 
crew were taken from the wreck by the East India Company's ship 
Cornevall, Captain Tousant, from China for London. 

Cyrus King, one of the most prominent citizens of Maine, died 
in Saco on the twenty-seventh day of April, 1817, aged forty-four 
years. He was four years — from 18 13 to 18 17 — a member of Con- 
gress for the First Eastern District. At the time of his death he 
was Major General of the Sixth Division of the Massachusetts 
MiUtia. His remains were interred on the twenty-ninth with military 
honors. A large number of the citizens of Kennebunk attended his 
funeral. General King was a son of Richard King, of Scarborough, 
and a brother of Rufus King, who was appointed Minister at the 
Court of London in 1795. 

The "York County Bible Society" held its first annual meeting, 
at York, June 18, 181 7. John Low, of Lyman, was elected Presi- 
dent; Henry Clark, Vice President; John Low, of Kennebunk, 
Treasurer; Rev. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, Corresponding Secretary, 
and Daniel Sewall, Recording Secretary ; Isaac Lyman, of York, 
Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf, of Wells, Joseph M. Hayes, of Arundel, 
Dr. Richard C. Shannon and Josiah Calef, of Saco, Ivory Hovey, of 
South Berwick, Northend Cogswell, of Berwick, Elihu Hayes, of 
Lebanon, Elisha Allen, of Sanford, Abial Hall, of Alfred, and John 
McDonald, of Limerick, Trustees. The balance in the treasury 
was one hundred and twenty-one dollars and sixty-one cents. 

The dwelling-house of Adam McCuUoch, at the Landing, 
together with a shed, was destroyed by fire about three o'clock a. m,, 
November 10, 18 18. The house was new, a story and a half build- 
ing, and it is supposed caught fire while heating the oven the 
evening of the previous day. Mr, McCulloch was married the week 
before to Miss Hannah Chase, of Newburyport, and had moved his 
furniture into the house and made preparations for occupying it the 
day it was burned. Nearly all the furniture was saved. 

The brig Columbia, of Kennebunk, Lord, master, from Porto 
Rico with a cargo of sugar, molasses, lignumvitffi and hides, while 
attempting to beat into this harbor, seventeenth of November, struck 
on the fishing rocks and sank in fifteen minutes thereafter. About 
one thousand dollars in specie went down with her. She was owned 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 231 

by Joseph Moody and Jeremiah Paul and was insured for five 
thousand dollars. 

Brig Oliver, Bourne, of Kennebunk, sailed from Havana for 
this port on the thirty-first of October, 1818, and was wrecked on 
Sandy Key on the seventh of the following month. Sails and rig- 
ging were saved and no lives lost. The Visiter adds: "This is the 
fourth vessel of which Joseph Moody, Esq., was part owner that has 
been lost within the last two years." 

Brig Bolina, of Kennebunk (owned by Dorrance and Kilham), 
Theodore Eldridge, master, arrived at Townsend, twenty-seventh of 
March, 18 19, after a disastrous voyage of ninety-one days. She left 
Point Petre Christmas day, 18 18. On the seventh of January, 18 19, 
her mate, Thomas Washburn, died, and on the following day two 
seamen were taken sick, leaving the captain with only one seaman 
and a boy, and compelling him "to tack about and bear away for 
the West Indies." He arrived at St. Parts on the eleventh of Feb- 
ruary and there procured seamen and supplies; left the island on 
the seventeenth for Kennebunk ; on the twenty-third took the wind 
to the westward, which blew a gale for twenty days, during which 
the vessel lost her bowsprit and was otherwise damaged. Captain 
Eldridge put into Townsend and left the brig there for repairs. 

Widow Philadelphia Harvey died in Wells, in October, 18 19, 
aged one hundred and two years. She was born in Kittery, in the 
second year of the reign of George I. 

There was living in Sanford, in 18 19, a man named Tibbetts, 
who had reached the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was 
then in good health, with sight, hearing and memory unimpaired. 
He was a native of Somersworth, N. H., where he was born the twenty- 
eighth of February, 1724. He recollected Portsmouth when it was 
an inconsiderable village, and when the Indians from Ossipee and 
Pigwacket (Coos County, N. H.,) were in the habit of visiting Ber- 
wick for the purpose of fishing in the summer months, during the 
long peace from 1725 to 1744. He was a soldier in the Spanish or 
five years' War (i 745-1 749). When he removed to Sanford, in 
1 76 1, there was but one dwelling-house, northerly, between his 
domicile and Canada. 



CHAPTER XX. 

TOWN HISTORY GLEANED FROM ADVERTISING COLUMNS, INDUSTRIES 
AND BUSINESS MEMORANDA, 1809 TO 182O. 

We think there is no better form in which information can be 
given respecting the business and business men of Kennebunk and 
its vicinity, from 1809 to 1820, than by what may be termed a 
synopsis of the advertising columns of the Weekly Visiter within this 
terra, adding, as we proceed, such explanations in regard to location 
of stores, shops and other buildings as we are able to furnish, and 
such other matter as we may consider relevant and interesting. 

1809. 

April 20. Frost & Hackett advertise dissolution of copartner- 
ship. (Nathaniel Frost and William Hackett.) 

June, Keser & Porter advertise notice to debtors. (Timothy 
Keser and Horace Porter.) 

July. Waterston & Pray, Kennebunk and Waterborough, also 
Pray & Hayes, Saco, advertise large stocks of goods in great variety. 
(Waterston & Pray occupied the brick store which had been quite 
recently erected by them on what is now the Ocean National Bank 
lot.) 

August. Thomas Drew advertises stock of goods at the store 
formerly occupied by Waterston & Pray. (This store occupied the 
front room on the ground floor of the house afterward occupied by 
Mrs. Hewes as a dwelling.) 

The store of Nathaniel Roberts, Kennebunk Landing, was 
broken open night of September twelfth and a quantity of piece 
goods stolen. 

Dr. Fisher advertises medicines, paints, etc., for which payment 
may be made in " anything eatable, drinkable, wearable or burnable, 
at fair prices." (Dr. Fisher's store occupied one-half of the lower 
story of his dwelling-house which stood near the site of the late 
Nathaniel L. Thompson's residence). 

232 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 233 

Waterston & Pray give notice that they will take " Eastern bills 
at par for goods," and Michael Wise, "Collector of Kennebunk," 
offers to take said bills for taxes. 

October. John U. Parsons advertises an additional supply of 
goods. (His store stood on the lot now occupied by the tenement 
house next west to the residence of John Cousens.) 

Thomas Folsom will sell his furniture at auction, November 
seventh, being about to remove to Portland. (Folsom kept a hotel 
in the dwelling-house now occupied by Woodbury A. Hall.) 

Edmund Pierson advertises that he has taken the tanyard lately 
occupied by Joseph Curtis. (This tannery was at "Scotchman's 
Brook," — currier's shop, bark house, etc., — on the lot between Dr. 
Ross's block and Henry F. Curtis's dwelling-house. Pierson came 
from Exeter, N. H.) 

December i. Robert Sugden, at Arundel, advertises his store 
and large dwelling-house, occupied by him as a boarding-house and 
tavern, for sale. (Sugden commenced business in Arundel, in 1802, 
as one of the firm of Harrison & Co. He married Martha Skirrow 
in June, 1805, — both English. Mrs. Sugden died January, 1810. 
He removed from Arundel the following month.) 

Nathaniel Frost, in store opposite the meeting-house, advertises 
for bristles; pays thirty cents per pound when combed, dried and 
bound in bunches, or twelve and a half cents if only dried and free 
from dirt. (Traders frequently advertised for bristles in several suc- 
ceeding years.) 

Isaac Daniels advertises West India goods and groceries; had 
just commenced business "at the store directly opposite the Hay 
Market." (This store occupied the rooms later improved by Eben 
Huff and Mrs. Johnson Webber, in the building on the corner of 
Main and Elm Streets. The "hay scales" (old style) then stood 
on a piece of greensward on the opposite side of the street.) 



January. William Henry advertises notice to debtors; has on 
hand, for sale cheap, seventy-five sides upper leather. (We do not 
find his name again mentioned.) 

Low, Parsons and Smith, commissioners on estate of Joseph 
Curtis, insolvent. 

William Hackett and George Wheelwright, committee of arrange- 
ments for ball on third of February. 



234 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Daniel Whitney, shoemaker, "at his shop back of post office." 
(The post office was in the "long building," Storer's, third from the 
mill yard.) 

Five hundred dollars reward is offered for apprehension of Jere- 
miah Clark, a public defaulter, late collector for the District of York, 
who broke jail in York February seventeenth. 

John Gubtill, shoemaker, in a shop nearly opposite the brick 
store. (It was probably the one-story L part of the Grant house, 
improved as a store by Captain Grant for several years. It after- 
ward formed a part of Norrish N. Wiggin's dwelling-house.) 

March. Smith Sz Treat, at Joseph Porter's tin shop, advertise 
grave and building stones. (The shop was on site of the late Horace 
Porter's house.) 

April. David Little, Landing, English and West India goods 
and groceries. The store was opposite his house, which stood where 
that of John W. Tripp now stands. The store was moved to Tit- 
comb's shipyard, where it has stood for some time unoccupied. 

Luther Kimball, cabinet work. West of David Little's store, at 
the Landing. 

May. Josiah Cross, carriage maker and repairer. Shop near 
the brick store. It was probably in Hodgdon's building. It was 
removed to " a shop near the custom house " the next February ; he 
did not succeed well and left town within a year. 

Daniel Hodsdon and Jamin Savage dissolve copartnership. 
They occupied the three-story building built by Hodsdon on the 
site where now stands George W. Frost's dwelling-house, next the 
bank. It was a large building, the lower floor chiefly occupied as 
a salesroom for cabinet work, etc., the second floor as a workshop 
and the third for a paint shop, storing choice lumber, etc. Hods- 
don and Edward White form copartnership for the manufacture of 
cabinet work; they advertise "bell-back and bamboo chairs" and a 
full supply of furniture at the shop just described and also at the 
shop lately occupied by White & Co., "opposite Mr. David Little's 
house," at the Landing. 

Nathaniel Jefferds advertises clothing business, on west side of 
Mousam, and also "eight acres of land, with small house and barn," 
situated near Rev. Mr. Fletcher's dwelling-house, formerly property 
of James Ridgeway and now owned by Thomas Folsom. 

Nathaniel Roberts, Landing, offers one hundred dollars reward 
for recovery of goods and valuable papers stolen from his store 
night of May second. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 235 

Betsey Hutchins and Silene Powers, "tailoring and mantua 
making," room in John H. Bartlett's house, on spot where the 
Stephen Perkins house now stands. 

Theophilus Hardy and Jotham Perkins (Hardy & Perkins), 
tanners, want to purchase hides and skins; offer for sale a good 
assortment of sole and upper leather and calfskins. Tanyard on 
Alfred road, on Scotchman's Brook. The main building improved 
by them is still standing and is now used for storage. The vats 
were filled up many years ago. The house lately owned by George 
Parsons, adjoining the old tanyard, was occupied by Perkins. Per- 
kins married Polly Stackpole, of Arundel, August 31, 1809. Hardy 
built and occupied the dwelling-house adjoining the tannery; he 
also built the one-story house, near the brook, on the opposite side 
of the road, which was occupied by his widow and children after his 
decease. This building now forms the L part of the late James 
Osborn's house on Portland Street. Hardy married Patty W. Good- 
win, of Somersworth, N. H., November, 1805. Hardy and Perkins 
were worthy and enterprising men. 

Timothy Kezer sold his dwelling-house — recently owned and 
occupied by George Parsons, on Alfred Street — at auction, July 9 ; 
purchased by Robert Waterston. Kezer & Porter dissolve copartner- 
ship September 29, and Kezer removes to the Landing. Waterston 
married Hepsea Lord, December 25, and occupied the Kezer house. 

September. John Patten, Arundel, advertises for juniper ber- 
ries. Traders frequently advertise for these berries, 1810-15. 

Michael Durgin advertises apple paring machines, patented. 

October 13. Daniels & Hooper form a copartnership, English 
and West India goods and groceries, at Daniels's old stand (the 
house just mentioned). Dissolve copartnership January 25, 181 1. 
Loammi Hooper continues the business in same store. 

October 19. Daniels advertises house, store, etc., formerly 
occupied by him, six miles from Kennebunk meeting-house, for sale. 

November. John Wood, singing school. 



January i. Smith & Porter form copartnership, at store 
recently occupied by Kezer & Porter, then second from Osborn's 
corner on Alfred Street, now moved to the opposite side of the 
street. It is fitted for a dwelling-house on second floor. Here 
Kezer lived while building the large house on next lot, north. It 
has been occupied by many different families. 



236 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Peter Folsom, harness maker. The house and shop were on 
lot between the residences of Mrs. Clara Hardy and Mrs. John Hill. 

January. Timothy Kezer, at Kennebunk Landing, wants "two 
hundred cords hard wood in exchange for goods." 

Jefferds & Curtis advertise " stop thief," a hundred dollars in 
money and sundry articles of merchandise having been stolen from 
them. We do not find this firm again mentioned. 

Daniel Whitney makes shoes and boots on the "new or old con- 
struction " ; has a patent for making "the much approved ironbound 
boots, shoes and bootees"; wants one journeyman at back-strap 
bootmaking, two at snarrow and one at shoes. 

February. Waterston, Pray & Co. advertise twenty-four crates 
crockery ware at and below Boston prices. They also offer for sale 
their stores in Kennebunk and Berwick. In June, admit Hercules 
M. Hayes as partner in the business that may be transacted at their 
brick store in Kennebunk, and give notice that their business at 
Alfred, under firm name of Waterston, Pray & Co., will thereafter 
be done under firm name of Samuel Silsbee & Co. 

Several of the traders kept schoolbooks for sale. Thomas 
Drew appears to take the lead in this department; keeps for sale 
Bibles and Testaments, Morse's, Parish's and Dwight's Geogra- 
phies, Walch's, Pike's, Merrill's and Kimball's Arithmetics, Perry's 
Dictionary, Columbian Orator, Art of Reading, American Preceptor, 
American Selections, American Reader, a new schoolbook, Webster 
and Perry's Spelling Books; also, Watts's Psalms and Hymns. 

John Strothers and Hosah Goodwin advertise for master brick- 
maker. There were two brickyards in the village, — one on Wonder 
Brook, a short distance back of the present residence of Hartley 
Lord, and one in Barnard's pasture, a short distance south of the 
present residence of Charles Kelley and others on Park Street. 

Timothy Frost, English and West India goods, etc., store under 
Washington Hall. 

William Hackett, English and West India goods, etc., store 
under Washington Hall. 

Ebenezer Curtis, West India goods and groceries, at store 
nearly opposite Benjamin Smith's bake house. 

Joshua Blood, hatter, advertises furs. The shop was next, 
easterly, to lot on which Warren's Block now stands. Blood was 
here several years. Alexander Warren worked for him as a journey- 
man in 1808. Blood left town in July, 181 1. Warren continued 
the business at the same stand. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 237 

Rev. Asa Piper, of Wakefield, N. H., advertises farm on which 
Stephen Thacher resides. The old "Parson Little place," is now 
known as George T. Jones's Sanford Road Hay Farm, 

William Jellerson, under date of Dover, April 12, requests 
that demands against him be presented for payment. Mr. Jellerson 
died at Kennebunk Landing, January 18, 18 12. 

July. John Mayall and James Radcliffe intend to carry on the 
carding business at Ricker's mill, in Shapleigh; "they were regu- 
larly brought up at the manufacturing of woolen cloth in all its vari- 
ous branches and served apprenticeships at the business in England." 

Francis Watts will let the large and commodious store nearly 
opposite Mrs. Lord's, Kennebunk Landing. 

The commissioned officers of sixth regiment, first brigade and 
sixth division of Massachusetts Militia are notified to appear at 
Washington Hall, eighth August, for consultation in reference to a 
martial music school. 

J. K. Remich advertises for sale Dr. Emerson's Fourth of July 
oration and Burton's sermon at ordination of Rev. Benjamin White 
as pastor of the First Parish in Wells. 

October 12. Samuel Mendum advertises tailoring business. 

"War! war! war! with wild cats, foxes, raccoons, squirrels and 
all venomous animals. It is proposed to have a gunning party next 
Monday. The sharpshooters of Wells and Arundel are invited to 
meet at Major Jefferds's one hour before sunrise on said morning; 
then to proceed to that piece of woods which extends from Samuel 
Mildram's to the cross road from Captain Morrill's to Maryland 
Ridge. It is not necessary for every man to have a gun; axes, etc., 
will be wanted. Boys of all ages are invited, for the plan is to drive 
the woods in two lines to meet in the center." A gunning party was 
an annual occurrence while game was plentiful in this vicinity. A 
supper at Jefferds's — composed in part of some of the game that 
had been taken, " baked, roasted and stewed" — closed the day's 
proceedings. 

Edmund Pierson removes from the tanyard on Scotchman's 
Brook to his new yard on the western side of Mousam River, just 
below the new grist mill, so-called, owned by Major Jefferds and 
Mr. Gillpatrick, where he will continue to carry on the tanning and 
currying business. Ferguson's machine shop, destroyed by fire, 
was the building put up by Pierson, and the iron machine shop the 
"new grist-mill" building. 



238 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Ralph Curtis takes and operates the Scotchman's Brook tan- 
nery. The site of this tannery is covered with greensward now and 
the old bark mill that stood there has been hauled on to Main Street 
and fitted up for a store (Mrs. Lawrence's) on the lower floor and for 
a dwelling-house on the upper. 

October i6. Hardy & Perkins, tanners, dissolve copartnership. 
Perkins continues the business. Hardy died of quick consump- 
tion, October 19, aged twenty-nine years. 

December 15. James K. Remich, who has been duly authorized 
by the commander in chief, calls a meeting of petitioners to be 
incorporated into a volunteer light infantry company, to be known 
as the "Praitonian Band." Several meetings of these petitioners 
were held between above-named date and the twenty-third of April 
following. Mr. Remich was chosen captain unanimously, but his 
business engagements compelled him to decline the office. The 
company could not agree upon any other person to fill the place 
and it was never fully organized. It is said that the artillery com- 
pany owed its existence to this movement. 

H. Low requests persons indebted to him for tuition of their 
children to make payment. He taught the public school in the vil- 
lage in the winter of 1810-11 and two terms of a private school in 
the summer of 181 1. 

John Chadbourne cautions the public to beware of a swindler. 
Chadbourne was a blacksmith and built the main part of the house 
on Summer Street occupied by George C. Farnum and Mrs. Daniel 
L. Hatch. His shop was a few rods farther down the street. 

Waterston, Pray & Co. advertise American manufactured goods 
on consignment; bed tickings, sheetings and shirtings, checks, 
stripes, ginghams and yarns assorted. Will sell to traders on same 
terms that they can be bought at the factory. 

1812. 

January i. In a list of letters remaining in the post office are 
several for persons in Lyman and Sanford. 

Michael Wise, English and West India goods and groceries. 

February 7. Jeremiah Paul will sell at auction one hundred 
and forty prime Spanish hides. 

Order of notice is published, on petition of Eliphalet Pearson, 
for partition of four thousand acres of land in Sanford, of which he 
owns one-twelfth part. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 239 

March 20. Mayall & Radcliffe give notice that they have 
erected a machine, in Kennebunk, for the purpose of carding cotton 
into rolls, and that they are erecting a machine for carding sheep's 
wool on a new and improved plan, superior to any ever before used 
in this part of the country, which will be completed in the following 
June. This marks the date of the initiatory step in manufacturing 
cotton or woolen in this town. 

April. Lowd & Rogers, painters and glaziers. Shop in the 
Grant building. Dissolve copartnership in September following. 
Lowd continues the business. 

David Little advertises three dwelling-houses for sale, between 
Samuel Lord's (nearly opposite McCulloch's) and Emery's wharf. 

John Skeele gives notice that he has entered in the clerk's 
office of the United States District Court for Massachusetts the title 
of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, viz.: "The New 
England Grammar," being a concise system of the English language, 
designed for the use of schools and private persons. This book 
was printed by James K. Remich, and was advertised as published 
and for sale. May 9. It is believed that not a copy of this Grammar 
is extant. 

May 15. James Titcomb advertises goods, nearly opposite the 
meeting-house, in the building now next east of the Warren Block. 

One hundred dollars reward is offered for information of the 
person who set fire to the schoolhouse (Burnham's District) in 
Arundel, which was burned August 7. Signed by James and Israel 
Burnham, Samuel and Enoch T. Colman, William Luis, Thomas and 
Jedediah Dorman, Timothy Hanscom, Daniel, Charles and Benja- 
min Huff, Jr., Samuel Hutchins, Daniel Towne, Seth Burnham, 
John Nason, Jeremiah Dunham, Joseph Towne, Daniel, Dummer 
and Ephraim Mitchell, Moses, Ebenezer and Asa Burbank, Moses 
F. Thompson, Abner Perkins, John Dorman, Jeremiah Miller, Joshua 
Downing, Andrew and John Miller, John and David Lord, Edward 
and Daniel Nason. We presume that the persons whose names are 
here given composed the entire male adult population of the district 
at the date mentioned, unless a very few were absent on sea voyages 
at the time. 

The farm of Abraham Littlefield, Jr., three miles from Kenne- 
bunk meeting-house, on the Alfred road, is offered for sale. "There 
is a good one-story house on the same." 



240 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

1813. 

January 13. Tobias Lord and twelve others petition the Mass- 
achusetts Legislature for an act of incorporation, they having, " at a 
very considerable expense, erected a bridge over Kennebunk River, 
in the towns of Wells and Arundel, whereby the distance between 
the port of Kennebunk and Portsmouth is shortened nearly five 
miles, and the inhabitants of the aforesaid towns very much accom- 
modated." They also ask that they may be authorized to collect 
such tolls on said bridge as may be reasonable and just. An act of 
incorporation, with power to collect tolls, was granted by the Legis- 
lature of 18 14. Carriages and teams on the western side of the 
river in the lower part of the town were compelled to go to the 
Landing and thence across Durrell's Bridge to the Port and vice versa. 

April. George Jefferds advertises store recently occupied by 
him for sale or to let. The store and dwelling-house on second floor 
stood about a rod below the present factory counting-room, so-called. 
It was subsequently occupied for several years by Samuel Ross, as 
a store and dwelling-house, and when he vacated, about 1825, it 
was removed across the street, a rod or two west of the upper dam, 
where it now stands. 

April 16. Phineas Stevens, watchmaker and jeweler, keeps 
for sale an assortment of watches and jewelry. 

Nathaniel Frost, Enoch Hardy and Timothy Frost, committee, 
request all persons who belong, or wish to belong, to the " Silver 
Grey Company of Kennebunk" to meet at Washington Hall to 
choose officers, etc., and in the following week publish a "card." 
" Those patriots composing the Silver Grey Company of Kennebunk 
are respectfully requested to accept the thanks of their committee 
for \\\€\x prompt attention to the notification in the last Visiter.^'' We 
find no farther notice of this company; we presume, however, that it 
was composed of exempts. 

Miss Grant gives notice that she has opened a school for the 
instruction of young ladies. This school was continued several 
years, under the tuition of Sarah and Ann Grant, daughters of Capt. 
John Grant, in the L of the Grant building. It was well patronized; 
besides the daughters of residents, young ladies from the neighbor- 
ing and interior towns came here to attend it. 

May I. Tobias Lord and Henry Clark, Arundel, dissolve 
copartnership. Clark continues the business. 

September. Daniel Moody commences the clothier's business 
at Nason's Mills. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 241 

William Taylor sells at auction, December 2, the lots on which 
have since been erected Palmer Walker's store (now Andrew Walk- 
er's), the brick store (Warren Block), Timothy Frost's store (now 
Cyrus Stevens's tenement house), the lot now occupied by the 
engine house, the lots "on the new road which has been lately 
opened" (now Green Street), on which stand the houses owned and 
occupied by Charles and Cyrus Stevens and Jacob Stewart and "a 
house partly finished," now the property of Dr. Richards's heirs. 

1814. 

January. Jefferds and Gillpatrick advertise for sale or to let 
the cotton and woolen factory now occupied by Mayall and Radcliffe. 
This building, which "was erected expressly for the purpose, is fifty- 
six by thirty-six, three stories at one end, and is commodiously fitted 
up for the residence of a family and may be enlarged to any size." 

Stephen Thacher (in Storer's "long store") advertises a great 
variety of American manufactured goods; wants to buy hogs, bris- 
tles and mustard seed. 

Waterston, Pray & Hayes (Joseph M.), at Saco, dissolve copart- 
nership. Hayes continues the business. 

Samuel Lord, Kennebunk Landing, advertises for sale "brig 
Rover, 198 tons, built in 1807." His store stood on the corner of 
the street leading to Durrell's Bridge and the commonly traveled 
road to the Port, his house on the Port Road a few rods from the 
corner (owned and occupied several years by Capt. Dummer Lord, 
destroyed by fire several years ago). 

Jesse Taylor advertises one-fourth part of saw-mill and privi- 
lege, in Wells, together with his homestead and several lots of land. 

March. Isaac Kilham, at Kennebunk Landing, advertises for 
plank. 

"Tobias Lord retails good molasses at one dollar per gallon." 

George Wheelwright, clerk, offers ten dollars reward for detec- 
tion of person who stole two axes belonging to the fire engine. 

John Low, John U. Parsons and Joseph Moody, committee, 
notify stockholders of Kennebunk Bank to meet at John Patten's 
(innholder) to make by-laws, etc. The bank opened for the transac- 
tion of business April i, Joseph Moody, President, Henry Clark, 
Cashier. 

Stephen Thacher will sell his stock in trade at auction April 25. 

June. James Mayall is erecting a wool carding machine at 
Ricker's Mills, in Shapleigh. 



242 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Samuel Mendum advertises for one thousand yards of tow cloth. 
Flax was raised quite extensively in Wells and the neighboring 
towns for many years. Tow cloth was manufactured in farmers' 
families for their own use and for the market. It always found a 
ready sale at the stores in town. 

James Osborn, Jr., advertises goods. 

July 29. Joseph Thomas gives notice that "York Lodge will 
be installed at Kennebunk, in ample form, on Thursday, the twenty- 
fifth of August next. An oration will be delivered on the occasion 
by M. W. Brother Simon Greenleaf. A general attendance of the 
brethren is requested." 

August. Timothy Keser advertises for ship timber and plank, 
and for from fourteen to eighteen ship carpenters to commence 
work on the fifteenth. 

Flaxseed and juniper berries were advertised for frequently by 
traders. 

August 13. Joseph Porter and Enoch Illsley give notice that 
they will supply the market with beef and other viands. 

September 2, John Fifield "intends supplying this market and 
the wharves with meats of all kinds." He relinquishes the business 
the eighteenth of November of same year. 

September. Henry Clark, at Arundel, advertises that he will, 
at an early day, sell his stock of goods at auction and relinquish trade. 

September 10. James Titcomb and John Skeele form a copart- 
nership and take store two doors eastward of Mr. Titcomb's former 
stand, formerly occupied by Loammi Hooper; West India goods, 
groceries and hardware. 

Mayall & Radcliffe advertise for lamb skins. 

William Safford advertises for lamb skins. Mr. Safiford was 
the first hatter in town, unless Howard carried on the business in 
1788 and until 1802. The dilapidated old building occupied by 
Safford as a shop stood near the foot of Alfred Street ; it was sub- 
sequently purchased and torn down by Mr. George Parsons. This 
was the first building put up on that street, which was laid out and 
built 1797-1800. We think the shop was erected two or three years 
before the road was regularly laid out. Afterward Mr, Safford 
bought an old building, moved it to the lot adjoining the shop and 
fitted it up for a dwelling-house. Part of this building has been 
torn down, the remainder reconverted into a barn. He married 
Lois Knowlton, of Ipswich, February, 1801. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 243 

Thomas Drew will sell remainder of his stock of goods at auc- 
tion September 15. He also gives notice that he has engaged for 
one month a steady and competent man to carry on the butchering 
and marketing business; if encouraged, a regular market will be 
established. 

William Gillpatrick, Secretary, advertises that the quarterly 
meeting of the "Allodian Society" will be held at Washington Hall 
December ig, and, in a later number of the Visiter, that an oration 
will be delivered before this society, at Washington Hall, February 
8, 18 1 5. We find no further notice respecting the promised oration 
and no additional mention of the society. Probably it was a polit- 
ical organization which the prospect of peace in the near future, 
and the presumption that no more land taxes would be levied on 
the people by the general government, rendered it unnecessary or 
inexpedient to continue. 

1815. 

February 3. William Taylor advertises for ship timber. Tay- 
lor's store stood next west to the Hillard house, on the lot now the 
lawn in front of Mr. Hartley Lord's residence, and his blacksmith's 
shop near where Mr. Lord's barn stands. Taylor so enlarged his 
business that he could not give personal attention to the shop and 
he leased it to John Chadbourne who worked there a short time. 
Taylor bought considerable ship timber, and in the spring, when 
the sledding here was bad and grew worse toward the Landing and 
harbor, the teams were unloaded in the space between his dwelling- 
house (now Mrs. J. S. Perkins's) and Mr. Lord's, which was some- 
times filled and the road opposite encroached upon. Here it was 
usually hewn before being hauled to the shipyard. This store was 
afterward fitted up for a dwelling-house, and, later, an addition was 
made to it nearly equal in size to the original building. In this 
house, at different times, lived Moses Littlefield, Paul Junkins, 
Capt. Thomas Lord, Mr. Blaisdell, John Goodwin and others. Miss 
Esther Hatch was the last tenant. It was hauled to the Port Dis- 
trict and is now occupied as a dwelling-house. 

March 15. Samuel Silsbee & Co., at Alfred, dissolve copart- 
nership. 

Eliphalet Perkins and thirty-five others, inhabitants of Wells 
and Arundel, petition Legislature of Massachusetts for leave to 
build a free bridge over Kennebunk River, about half a mile above 
the toll bridge, over and across said river. 



244 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

June 9. Joseph B. Emerson, son of Dr. Samuel, advertises 
kine pock matter. It was believed to be the first in town. 

June. Timothy Kezer offers ten dollars and fifty cents per 
thousand for pine boards. Smith & Porter, same date, ofifer ten 
dollars per thousand. 

William Hackett removes from store under Washington Hall, 
western end, to store lately occupied by Nathaniel Frost, under the 
printing office. Frost had removed to a new store built by him on 
the western corner of his home lot (now occupied by N. Dane, Jr.), 
adjoining the lot where now stands Abraham Hill's house. Here he 
kept the usual country store assortment of goods, together with a 
good stock of medicines. After his decease this building had many 
tenants of different occupations, who will be mentioned as we pro- 
ceed. A number of years ago it was purchased by Charles Herrick 
and moved to the lot adioining, north, Safford's building, and later 
to the opposite side of the street. Herrick improved it several 
years as a shoe shop and store. It was later occupied by Charles 
Perkins, provisions, etc. 

James K. Remich advertises a full assortment of books, 
stationery, justice and court blanks, etc., at his office counting-room. 
William Hackett buys lumber of all kinds ; has a full supply of 
all goods usually found in a country store. 

July 14. John U. Parsons and Moses Savary (Parsons's step- 
son) form copartnership; "will open at the white store fronting the 
road which leads to Alfred," then just built by Savary. 

Joshua Tolford, watch and clock maker, offers for sale "rich 
jewelry"; commences business here in "a shop a few rods south of 
Kennebunk meeting-house," probably in the Grant store, but this is 
not certainly known. He moved to Portland, whence he came, 
after remaining in town about a year. 

Nathaniel Mendum, blacksmith, "in future will furnish work at 
the former stand, now carried on by Jacob Waterhouse & Co." 
The shop was near by and west of Gillpatrick's ; it was torn down or 
removed several years ago. 

August 14. James Kimball, Jr., sold at auction his house, 
barn and blacksmith shop, together with twelve acres of land adjoin- 
ing. Joseph Dane was the purchaser. The house, which has been 
somewhat improved, is still standing and for some years was occu- 
pied by Mrs. Hilton. The blacksmith's shop, which stood at the 
rear of the building occupied by A. W. Bragdon as a tailor shop. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 245 

was torn down after it was vacated by Mr. Kimball, who bought 
and removed to a farm in Kennebunkport. A street, known as 
Dane Street, was laid out through the field, extending to the lot now 
occupied by the High School Building; the lot on which the school 
building stands was also a part of this field. Kimball had sold 
from his homestead, before the above-named auction sale, the lot on 
which stands the building just mentioned as having been occupied 
by A. W. Bragdon and others, which was built by Moses Savary in 
the fall of 1814. It was painted white, while other stores on the 
street were painted yellow; hence it came to be known as the 
"white store." 

Waterston, Pray & Co. sell their stock in trade at auction, the 
sale commencing the twenty-third of August. This firm removed to 
Boston, where they established a wholesale dry goods business; 
they were very successful. 

September. Hodsdon & White, cabinet makers and house 
carpenters, dissolved copartnership. 

September. Parsons, Savary and Thomas Drew form a copart- 
nership, under the firm name of John U. Parsons & Co., and take 
the brick store, which had been vacated by Waterston, Pray & Co. 

Titcomb & Skeele remove to the white store, vacated by Par- 
sons & Savary. 

October. Perkins and Chamberlin, tanners and curriers, form 
a copartnership and carry on business at Perkins's former stand, on 
the Alfred road. 

Smith «Sc: Porter advertise for white and red oak hogshead and 
barrel staves, treenails, red oak plank, lath wood, oak butts, oak, 
beech, birch, maple, ash and elm timber. 

Mrs. Nichols's house, on the lot now owned by the heirs of the 
late Mrs. John Mitchell, on the Alfred road, was sold at auction 
November ii. It was purchased by Joseph Thomas and moved to 
the lot on which stands building owned by George E. and William 
Littlefield. After Thomas's death (1830) it was moved to the west- 
ern end of the triangular lot and had many different tenants. It 
was destroyed by fire. 

November. Moses Varney, from Dover, N. H., commences 
business in the western part of Stephen Tucker's tailor shop (in the 
building afterward owned and occupied by Mrs. Raynes, since 
moved and utilized as a shed). He manufactured ladies' morocco 
shoes and kept a full assortment on hand for sale. He was remark- 
ably well patronized. 



246 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

John Gillespie proposes to teach an evening school. 

November 14. The sharpshooters in the vicinity are invited to 
meet at Colonel Taylor's "for the purpose of driving the woods from 
that starting place to Kennebunk meeting-house. . . . Bring 
boys, guns, clubs, dogs, tooting horns and a little bread and cheese." 

December 20. Dixey Stone takes store formerly occupied by 
Thomas Drew, in Taylor's building. 

1816. 

January 5. Seaver, Palmer & Co. open a store next to that of 
John U. Parsons & Co., in a one-story building, which was hauled 
to the vacant lot near the corner of Main and Fletcher Streets, as 
now designated. 

Thomas Bramley takes store eastern end of Washington Hall 
Building, recently vacated by Timothy Frost, who had moved his 
stock of groceries, etc., to the new building erected by him on the 
opposite side of the street, at present owned by Cyrus Stevens and 
improved as a double tenement dwelling-house. Bramley was a 
butcher and in addition to a good stock of provisions kept West 
India goods and groceries. He occupied the dwelling-house after- 
ward Mrs. Hillard's, and his slaughter house was in the barn a few 
rods below; the former was removed, the latter torn down. He 
remained in town a year or two. His leave-taking was not strictly 
in accordance with the Golden Rule. 

January 20. Enoch Hardy advertises two house lots. One is 
that on which the brick dwelling-house owned and occupied by the 
heirs of Capt. Franklin N. Thompson now stands (built by Dr. Bur- 
leigh Smart in 1825), the other that on which the dwelling-house of 
Robert Smith, Jr., now stands; this is the house built by Capt. Jere- 
miah Paul on the lot where stands the dwelling-house of Frederick 
P. Hall, and was moved to its present location by Capt. George 
Lord about 1833, shortly before he built the house now occupied by 
Mr. Hall. Joseph Dane owned and occupied this house several 
years. 

Stephen Titcomb's farm, on west side of Kennebunk River, one 
hundred and eighty acres, a considerable portion of which was val- 
uable pine growth, with house and barn, situated between Kenne- 
bunk Landing and the wharves, was advertised by the executors of 
his will to be sold at auction, March 27. The house and a portion 
of the tillage land is now owned and occupied by George Dresser. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 247 

Stephen Webster advertises the house where he lives, near 
Samuel Lord's, on the cross road leading to John Butland's. 

May. Chase W. French & Co. commence business, cabinet 
makers, with a good stock of furniture ready made, at the shop 
formerly occupied by Titcomb & Skeele, in eastern part of Taylor's 
building (the dwelling-house of Ebenezer Huff and Mrs. Johnson 
Webber). 

Nathaniel Frost keeps a large stock of medicines. 

June 28. House lately occupied by Capt. James Hibbard, at 
Kennebunk Landing, for sale. It was owned by Samuel Durrell 
for many years. It stood near the present site of Charles Stevens's 
dwelling-house; it was destroyed by fire. 

Luther Kimball, Kennebunk Landing, chaise, wagon and cab- 
net work. 

July 8. Miss Ann Grant commences a school for tuition of 
young ladies in English branches, "embroidery, print work, drawing, 
painting, tambour, filigree, plain sewing, marking, working muslin." 

September 12. William Jefferds advertises for sale or lease for 
five or ten years his tavern stand, his mills on Mousam River, con- 
sisting of one-fourth part of a double saw-mill, one-half part of two 
grist-mills, with two run of stones in each, and one-half part of the 
cotton and woolen factory, also one hundred and fifty acres of land 
in three lots. Mr. Jefferds, it is understood, continued in possession 
of this property for several years subsequently to the date of his 
advertisement. 

John U. Parsons and others advertise for black cherries and 
flaxseed. 

October. Nathaniel Littlefield occupies the store under Wash- 
ington Hall recently vacated by William Hackett, and offers for 
sale a very large stock of piece goods, crockery ware, etc. 

Nathaniel Mendum advertises the "hay farm" on Branch 
River, fifty-five acres, with barn thereon. This farm was for many 
years subsequently owned and improved by Capt. John Hovey. It 
is now in possession of Edmund Warren. 

November 8. Samuel L. Osborn, in the store then just com- 
pleted on the corner of Main and Alfred Streets, offers for sale an 
extensive variety of goods usually kept in a country store. 

1817. 
The hull and appurtenances of the brig Columbia, "as she now 
lies on the beach, about two miles westward of Kennebunk Harbor, 



248 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

will be sold at auction, for the benefit of the underwriters, February 
25." Joseph Moody, Agent. 

Michael Wise advertises an additional supply of piece goods. 
West India goods and groceries, hard and hollow ware, books and 
stationery. 

Stephen Thacher advertises to commence the second term of 
his "Academical School" April i. This was an excellent school. 
The number of scholars was restricted to thirty. The method of 
instruction was somewhat unique, but was remarkably well calcu- 
lated to advance his pupils in their studies. It was continued pros- 
perously until Mr. Thacher removed to Lubec, in 18 18. The school 
was kept in the parlor of his dwelling-house (now Woodbury A. 
Hall's). The post office was also kept in an apartment in the south- 
erly corner of the house. Mr. Thacher was postmaster and judge 
of probate as well as teacher. He was also a trader, keeping on 
hand for sale a large stock of all the goods usually found in a coun- 
try store. He advertised, January, 1817, "an elegant assortment 
of American cloths, manufactured from merino wool, consisting of 
black and blue broadcloths, mixed and blue narrow cloths, satinets 
and flannels," twenty per cent, cheaper than English cloths, of 
similar quality, can be bought for. He was, likewise, an amateur 
farmer, the raising of merino sheep being the branch of husbandry 
to which he gave the larger share of his attention. 

Peter Folsom's house was sold at auction, April 12, and was 
purchased by Joseph Thomas. One-half of the lower floor of this 
building was improved as a saddler's shop. The building, a good- 
sized two-story house, stood between the house now owned by the 
heirs of Horace Porter and that belonging to Mrs. John Hill. Mr. 
Folsom died on the eighteenth day of April. In July Palmer 
Walker takes the shop formerly occupied by Folsom and continues 
the business of harness making, etc. 

May 4. Miss Ann Grant advertises to open a "Young Ladies' 
School, for boading and day scholars." This was a very popular 
school. Among its pupils were several from the interior towns 
in the county. 

May. Miss Sarah Grant advertises a fine assortment of milli- 
nery goods. This was a well-patronized millinery establishment for 
several years. 

June. Nathaniel Jefferds and Paul Hussey form a copartnership 
and purchase all the machinery in the factory formerly improved by 
Mayall & Radclifife and continue, in the building that was occupied 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 249 

by that firm, the business of carding, spinning, weaving and manu- 
facturing cloth. They will also carry on the business of carding, 
etc., at Nason's Mill in Arundel. 

July 5. Abial Kelley advertises auction sales at the new brick 
store of Kelley &: Warren. 

September i6. George and Ivory Lord form a copartnership 
and offer for sale, at Kennebunk Landing, a full assortment of all 
goods usually found in a country store. 

September. Ebenezer Shackley removes from store near the 
mill yard to store on first floor of Edmund Pearson's dwelling-house 
{now in possession of William Fairfield). 

Jotham Perkins and Thomas B. Chamberlin, tanners and cur- 
riers, dissolve copartnership. 

October i6. John Scamman, in Bartlett's building, west of the 
brick store, makes and repairs boots and shoes. He did not tarry 
in town more than a year. 

Nathaniel Thompson, of Arundel, master of new brig Trident, 
advertises her for freight or charter to a Southern port or the West 
Indies ; will sail about twentieth of November. 

November. Stephen Thacher advertises very rich merino 
cloths, dressed by William Barrett, at Maiden, manufactured of 
wool from Mr. Thacher's sheep; one piece of this cloth received a 
premium of twenty dollars, at Brighton, for its superior fineness 
and beauty. 

December. Moses Varney removes from Tucker's building to 
the store recently occupied by Capt. Nathaniel Frost, nearly oppo- 
site the brick store. 

Samuel Silsbce offers his services as an auctioneer; has a desk 
and privilege of receiving consignments in Mr. Varney's shop. 

J, K. Remich advertises an Address delivered at Dover, N. H., 
October 23, by John Holmes, at the Installation of Stafford Lodge, 
and notifies subscribers for " Robinson's History of Baptism " that 
the book is ready for delivery at his office. 

1818. 

January 20, 21 and 23. Davenport Tucker (in store recently 
owned and improved by Andrew Walker) sells his stock of goods at 
auction. The store is now occupied by "Kennebunk Free Library 
Association." 

Benjamin Stevens establishes himself in Kennebunk as a hatter. 
Shop on lower floor of Taylor & Hill's building. 



250 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

April 12. Barnabas Palmer gives notice that having been 
"unexpectedly called to a new and important office" he shall rigidly 
execute the laws of the Commonwealth respecting the impounding 
of cattle and swine going at large. Palmer had been elected by the 
town field driver and hogreeve, an office with which he was not well 
pleased, and he determined to carry out the provisions of the law 
thoroughly and "without fear or affection" ; but in carrying out his res- 
olution he imposed on himself a practical joke, which no one enjoyed 
telling, in after time, more than Palmer himself. A few days after 
the publication of this pronunciamento Mr. Palmer espied a good- 
sized hog passing his store, going in an easterly direction. To go 
into the street, armed with a bludgeon, and "head off" the porker 
was the work of a few moments only, but the beast was contuma- 
cious, turning, dodging and making desperate sallies. Although his 
progress was slow and wearisome. Palmer persisted in his efforts to 
drive the animal toward the pound, and in the conflict his nether 
garment was badly rent in divers places. Mr. Benjamin Smith, 
looking up street, saw the collection of jolly spectators and Mr. 
Palmer's laborious operations and at once repaired to the scene of 
the skirmish and proffered his services; but the twain found it a 
difficult task to urge the porker forward and keep him in the right 
direction. Arriving opposite the homestead of Mr. Smith, that 
gentleman proposed, inasmuch as his pigsty was without a tenant, 
to drive the pugnacious beast into it. This was done and the hog 
was shut up. Mr. Palmer thanked Mr. Smith for his kindness. 
"Oh, no," said Mr. Smith, "I am the obliged party; the hog is 
mine and I can't imagine how he contrived to get out of the sty; he 
is, however, through your kindness, safely back into his old quar- 
ters." Palmer saw the point at once; he had returned but not 
impounded the beast, and he could, at his leisure, reckon up his 
loss in broadcloth destroyed and labor misapplied. 

May. Enos Hoag purchases the whole stock in trade of 
Nathaniel Littlefield and continues the business at the old stand. 

May 2 2. Notice is given that the Kennebunk post office has 
been removed to the store of Seaver, Palmer & Co. 

Dr. Fisher advertises Monroe potatoes, raised by him from the 
seed, "as much superior to the common potatoes as Monroe is to 
Jefferson." 

June I. Stephen Thacher sells household furniture, farming 
utensils, etc., at auction. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 251 

William B. Nason advertises the farm whereon he lives for sale, 
situated a few rods from the meeting-house and consisting of a large 
two-story dwelling-house and a barn, seventy acres of land and a 
large and thrifty orchard. (It was originally the Currier place. 
Norrish Wiggin's house stands near the site of the dwelling-house 
above named.) 

William Taylor sells at auction his former homestead, then occu- 
pied by Timothy Frost and Capt. James Hubbard, now owned and 
occupied by Mrs. Sarah C. Perkins. Charles W. Williams was the pur- 
chaser. He also purchased the dwelling-house and outbuildings then 
occupied by Thomas Bramley, the Hillard house, which was moved 
to Water Street in the spring of 1885. Joseph Porter was the pur- 
chaser; he was also the purchaser of a large lot of land in the rear 
of these buildings, on which, at the time, was an excellent brickyard 
which was sold at the same time ; he also bought the store then 
occupied by Mr. B. Stevens as a hatter's shop and by a family on 
the upper floor (Mrs. Hewes's house) ; also the dwelling-house nearly 
finished, and about half an acre of land adjacent, then occupied by 
the widow Hill, now the residence and property of the heirs of the 
late Dr. Lemuel Richards. 

Daniel Hodsdon and Edward White dissolve copartnership. 
Hodsdon carries on the business. White moves to the Port ; he 
was an excellent mechanic ; he subsequently removed to Roxbury, 
Mass. 

Stephen Smith's homestead, at Kennebunk Landing, eleven 
rods below Luther Kimball's lot, advertised for sale. 

December 25. Palmer Walker occupies the new building he 
has recently erected, "where he continues to carry on saddle and 
harness making" (the building later owned by Andrew Walker, 
corner of Main and Green Streets). 

December 25. Dr. Burleigh Smart commences the practice of 
medicine at Arundel ; office at J. Patten's Hotel. 

1819. 

January i. Shares "in the new hay scales, near the meeting- 
house " were advertised for sale. These were old-style scales and 
occupied the site of similar ones that were blown down and destroyed 
during the September gale, 1818. 

January i. Seaver, Palmer & Co. dissolve copartnership. 
Palmer continues the business. 



252 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

February 13. James Kimball, Jr., sells at auction the lot, 
bounded by land of Enoch Hardy and Jonas Clark and opposite 
Joseph Porter's dwelling-house, on which Joseph Dane's house, 
destroyed by fire, stood. Jonas Clark purchased it. 

February. Ralph Curtis offers for sale a two-story house, forty 
by thirty, one hundred rods from the meeting-house, on the road 
leading to the Landing. This house was built several years previ- 
ously by Benjamin Littlefield, familiarly known as "Uncle Ben," 
It stood opposite the road leading to the depot. Mr. Chick has 
recently erected a dwelling-house on a part of this lot. The build- 
ing stood there a number of years after the date of the advertisement 
and had many different occupants; it was moved "down town" by 
Mr. Curtis and is now owned by his heirs. 

Hepzibah Shackley advertises farm about one mile from Ken- 
nebunk meeting-house; has a good one-story house and a barn on 
the premises. "Inquire of Clement Shackley" or the advertiser. 

March 12. John Lillie opens an apothecary's shop in Kelley 
& Warren's new brick building. He vacated the store a few years 
later and was succeeded by Dr. Burleigh Smart, who relinquished 
the business and was succeeded by Alexander Warren. Dr. Lemuel 
Richards succeeded Warren, and Dr. George Bourne & Brother suc- 
ceeded to the business established more than seventy years ago. 

Benjamin Stevens and Timothy Weare, hatters, dissolve copart- 
nership. Weare continues the business. Weare remained in town 
only a few months after the copartnership had been dissolved. 

May 24. The assessors of the town of Wells give notice that 
their office is in Kennebunk, at the office of Joseph Thomas. 

The hull of the brig Franklin, "as she lies on the beach," 
with all the rigging, etc., belonging to said brig, was sold at auction 
June I. We find no particulars respecting the loss of this brig. 

June I. Joseph G. Woods enters into partnership with Enos 
Hoag. 

Joseph M. Hayes removes to Kennebunk and takes the store 
on the first floor of Palmer Walker's new building. 

William Gillpatrick advertises West India goods and groceries 
in the store formerly occupied by his father, Richard Gillpatrick. 

July. Dr. Alexander Hatch, of Doughty's Falls, announces his 
intention to publish his new book, "The Library of Divinity," at 
once. It was printed by James K. Remich. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 253 

James K. Remich gives notice that he has in press and will 
publish in a few days the trial of Jacob Cochrane, reported by 
Gamaliel E. Smith, of Newfield. 

August 28. Nathaniel Mendum takes the shop of Edmund 
Lord, near the western end of the village bridge, and continues the 
blacksmith's business under the care of Mr. James Ross. 

Moses Varney removes to the building recently vacated by 
Barnabas Palmer, who has taken the store (now occupied by Fair- 
field & Littlefield) in the "Exchange," the name by which Kelley 
& Warren's brick building was known for several years. Palmer 
removes the post office to this building, 

October 20. Edward E. Bourne opens a law office in Kelley's 
building. 

October 23. Samuel L. Osborn forms a partnership with his 
brother, James Osborn, Jr. 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE WAR OF 1812-15 — "THE HORSE MARINE" — PRESIDENT MONROE 

IN KENNEBUNK THE CAVALRY COMPANY THE ARTILLERY 

COMPANY. 

A large majority of the inhabitants of Wells were strongly 
opposed to the war with Great Britian;^ they did not believe that 
sufficient cause existed to warrant the declaration ; they did not be- 
lieve that self-respect, as a nation, or patriotic regards for the rights 
and interests of the M^hole people demanded a step so blighting to 
the prosperity of the entire country. That there were causes for 
complaint they readily admitted, but that they were so serious as to 
require immediate recourse to the "last resort" without farther effort 
to maintain the national honor except by bloodshed, they could not 
admit. They would not buckle to Great Britain. If it should be 
found that her insolent bearing and measures hostile to our interests 
were parts of a deliberately formed policy to insult and injure us, 
then the provocation would be undeniable; then they would be ready 
and anxious to risk their "lives and fortunes" in "battling for the 
right." Political parties in this country, we apprehend, were never 
more thoroughly divided, never opposed each other with greater 
bitterness than during the progress of this war; the war party, then 
called Republicans, and the anti-war party, called Federalists, 
denounced each other in the most opprobrious terms. 

At a legal town meeting held in Wells on the twenty-seventh 
day of July, 18 12, a series of resolutions "prepared by a large and 
respectable committee, of which the Hon. Nathaniel Wells was chair- 
man, were several times read and fully understood, and were unani- 
mously accepted and ordered to be published in the JVeekly Visiter 
as containing the sentiments of the said town." The third of these 
resolutions is as follows: — 

Resolved, "That we consider the war which has been declared 
as unjustifiable, unnecessary and inexpedient, whether viewed in 
reference to the prospect of obtaining the object for which it has 

' "War declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland and the dependencies thereof and the United States and their territories, 
June 18, 1812." 

254 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 255 

been waged, the countless disasters it will bring upon our immense 
commerce which has been the nerve and sinew of our government 
and is now floating defenseless on the waves of the ocean, or the 
inevitable and burdensome system of taxes which its loss must 
unavoidably bring to every man's door." 

We copy from the Visiter the following interesting items in 
reference to incidents growing out of the war: — 

Cleared from this port private armed sloop Gleaner Packet, 
Robinson,^ bound on a cruise, July i8, 1812, and on the eighth of 
the following August we are told that "the Gleaner of this port, six 
guns and fifty men, has been taken, together with her second prize, 
and sent to Halifax." 

Arrived at this port 20th July, brig Concord, Daniel Tripp, mas" 
ter, from Ireland, in ballast, with Irish passengers. On the eleventh* 
at six p. M. was boarded by H. M. brig Emulous, eighteen guns. 
His papers were taken and he was ordered to follow the Emulous. 
The next day the papers were returned and nineteen American 
prisoners sent on board and the order repeated to follow the Emu- 
lous. At eight p. M., while the Emulous was engaged in boarding 
a vessel she had brought to, Captain Tripp made all sail and got 
clear of her. 

August I, 18 1 2. The ship owners in this district have been 
remarkably fortunate since the declaration of war in that there have 
been numerous arrivals of vessels belonging to this port within a few 
weeks, but by advices published in this day's paper it appears that 
the Vesper, of this port, which had been captured, and was recap- 
tured by a Salem privateer, has again been taken and sent into Hal- 
ifax. We learn, also, that the Horison, of this port, was captured, 
but subsequently escaped and has arrived at Portland. 

Cartel schooner Regulation, of Kennebunk, arrived at Ports- 
mouth, N. H., 23d November, 1812, seven days from Halifax, 
bound to Boston ; put in in consequence of severe weather, had on 

'Oapt. Joshua Robinson, of this town, married Narcissa, daughter of Oapt. 
Jeremiah Paul. Oapt. Robinson and crew were sent from Halifax to Dartmoor 
Prison. The author has in his possession a small volume entitled "Rhyme and 
Reason " (presented to him by Mrs. Robinson) which belonged to the " Dartmoor 
Prison Library " and which Captain Robinson brought home after he had been re- 
leased from his incarceration. This prison is sltviated in the center of the western 
quarter of the County of Devon, England, about fourteen hundred feet above the 
sea level, at Dartmoor, " remarkable for its wild and rugged seenery, its tower- 
ing rock-capped hills and the numerous streams that have their source it its 
boggy soil." It was built in 1806 especially for the "accommodation " of French 
prisoners of war, and cost about six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. " It is 
now used as a depot for convicts." 



256 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

board parts of the crews of five coasting vessels that had been taken 
by a British cruiser. 

May I, 1813. On Monday last an English frigate was in Wells 
Bay most of the forenoon ; she was so near the shore that the 
officers were seen in the rigging and on her quarters who were look- 
ing at the villages along shore ; a man who was heaving the lead was 
also distinctly seen. 

May 19, 18 13, Private armed ship Alexander, of Salem, 
eighteen guns, Crowninshield, master, was chased on shore near and 
west of Great Hill by the British sloop-of-war Rattler, twenty guns, 
and schooner Bream, four guns. Soon after the Alexander struck 
the shore the English took possession ; they succeeded in getting 
off their prize without difficulty, as it was low water when she went 
ashore. The officers and crew of the Alexander numbered forty-eight 
and they had one hundred and twenty prisoners, having taken seven 
prizes during her cruise. Quite a number of the crew of the Alex- 
ander deserted her before the English got possession, some by 
means of the boats and some by swimming; one of the boats full of 
men upset between the Alexander and the shore, and it is supposed 
several were drowned. The dead body of a foreigner was found 
on the beach the next day. 

As soon as the news spread that the Alexander had been chased 
ashore, the bell rang an alarm and several hundreds of the citizens 
of this town and Arundel repaired to the scene of the disaster, most 
of whom were well supplied with arms and ammunition. The com- 
mander of the Rattler sent one of his ofBcers with a flag of truce, 
accompanied by one of the lieutenants of the Alexander, who 
informed our citizens that any attempt at rescue would be fruitless ; 
that the officers of the Alexander had capitulated with their captors 
for the parole of the officers and crew and the restoration of their 
private property. The officers were landed, and those of the crew 
who had not escaped were put on board a coaster, bound to Boston, 
which the English had taken in our bay and which they now 
released. 

The commander of the Rattler was very liberal and gentle- 
manly, and well he might be. The Alexander was a splendid ship 
and had surrendered without resistance. It is said that the English 
renamed her "The Gift." 

A fishing boat belonging to this port, with four persons on board, 
was captured about eight p. m. on the fifth of August by a tender of 
the Lahogue frigate and detained until the next morning, when the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 257 

crew was released with a warning that, hereafter, any boat with 
more than two men in it, taken after sunset, would be burned. The 
men were courteously treated. During the night the tender captured 
two fishing schooners and two sloops ; the former were released and 
the latter burned. 

British ship Bulwark, seventy-four guns, anchored off Winter 
Harbor i6th June, 1814. She sent five barges to the shore, having 
on board from one hundred to one hundred and fifty men, who com- 
mitted serious outrages. They burned a new brig and two coasters 
from Cape Cod loaded with lumber and destroyed the frame of a ship 
that had been recently put up by knocking it to pieces; they also 
took the ship Victory, then lying at the wharf, and towed her along- 
side the Bulwark, having previously entered the store^ of Mr. Thomas 
Cutts and having taken therefrom the sails and rigging of the ship 
which had been deposited there ; they took other articles from the 
store, such as clothing, liquor, tobacco, etc. Captain Cutts ransomed 
the ship for the sum of six thousand dollars, which proved a poor in- 
vestment, as she was fitted for sea as soon as peace Avas declared, but 
was never heard from after she sailed from Biddeford Pool. Several 
hundred of the inhabitants from Saco and its neighborhood repaired 
to the Pool, but did not arrive there until the destructive work of the 
enemy had been accomplished. No other inhabitant of the Pool 
was molested. It was supposed at the time that one or more of the 
officers of the Bulwark entertained a personal spite against Cutts for 
some unknown reason and inflicted these injuries for revenge. 

On Saturday, the eighteenth of June, the Bulwark made her 
appearance off Kennebunk Harbor. The inhabitants were seriously 
alarmed. Five companies of militia were ordered out and during the 
whole of the day were under arms. The Bulwark disappeared shortly 
and the companies were dismissed toward night, but a large number 
of volunteers remained to guard the coast and to give an alarm if 
necessary. Apprehensive that the Bulwark might return or that 
some other one of the enemy's war vessels might make an attack on 
the coast settlements, most of the shipping was moved up the river, 
the inhabitants of Kennebunkport sent their valuable effects and the 
best of their furniture out of town, and the specie was removed from 
the bank. There was not, however, during the war, any further 
cause for alarm. The British ships Bulwark and Nymphe were in 
sight from this town July eighth, but were steering in another direction. 

Arrived at Cape Porpoise about the twenty-eighth of June, sloop 

1 Taken down in 1888. 
17 



258 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Julia, Commary, owned by parties in Boston. Fifteen days previous, 
while on her passage from Boston to an eastern port in ballast, she 
was captured by a British privateer, a prize master and three men put 
on board, and then ordered to Halifax. The captain of the American 
sloop was permitted to remain, but the crew was sent to the privateer. 
When within a short distance of Halifax the Julia was driven on to 
the American coast in a gale ; the prize master, who was unacquainted 
with the art of navigation, gave the management of the vessel to her 
former captain, who secreted the provisions from the prize crew and 
thus compelled them to put into harbor for a supply. She was taken, 
with the prize crew, into Cape Porpoise, as above, when our coast 
guard promptly took possession of her. The prize crew all the time 
supposed that they were making port in Nova Scotia. 

The Visiter of September 14th says : " In this town and Arundel 
active measures of defense are being taken. Exempts of every age, 
capable of bearing arms, are organizing and equipping themselves 
to protect their homes and their country." By subsequent numbers 
of the paper we learn that a meeting of citizens of these towns was 
held at Mrs. Lord's store at Kennebunk Landing, on the nineteenth 
of September, by which a Committee of Safety was appointed, but 
neither the number or names of the persons of which it was composed 
are given. Immediately thereafter " a number of exempts formed 
themselves into a Volunteer Artillery Company, to aid in the defense 
of our town and harbor, and offered their services to the Committee 
of Safety to act under its direction." At a second meeting of the 
citizens of these towns, held in the meeting-house of the Second 
Parish in Wells on the twenty-sixth of September, " to take into con- 
sideration the defenseless condition of our seacoast and harbor and 
for other purposes," several companies of exempts were organized, 
formed of citizens of, and designed to operate in different localities 
in. Wells and Arundel. " Sixty-three signed the articles in Kenne- 
bunk Parish and many others were ready to do so." Of this com- 
pany Dr. Jacob Fisher was chosen Captain, Maj. William Taylor, 
Lieutenant, and Maj. Timothy Frost, Ensign, who were authorized 
to appoint subordinate officers. They appointed John Low, Reuben 
Littlefield, Joseph Porter and Amos Stevens, Sergeants, and John 
Tripp, Joseph Taylor, William Taylpr and John Fiddler, Coporals. 
In this company there were one judge, seven justices of the peace, 
one colonel, two majors, nine captains and several other commis- 
sioned military officers. 

Bradbury, in his history of Kennebunkport, thus describes "the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 259 

situation" on the eastern side of the river: "To protect the harbor 
a small fort was built on Kennebunk Point and a battery on Butler's 
Rocks. A Volunteer Artillery Company was stationed at the fort, 
which was relieved by the Limington Artillery under the command 
of Captain Small. The coast was lined with British men-of-war and 
privateers, and frequently could the flames arising from some coast- 
ing vessel, which had fallen into the hands of the enemy, be seen 
from the village. In consequence of the risk in running from port 
to port provisions were extremely high. Flour was worth from four- 
teen to fifteen dollars a barrel, corn two dollars a bushel, molasses 
one dollar and a quarter a gallon and other articles proportionably 
high." 

"Besides privateering several vessels were fitted out [1814] 
under the Danish flag, but all of them except one, notwithstanding 
their disguise, were captured by the English." 

" Owing to the bad luck of the Gleaner [described in a preced- 
ing page] no privateer was fitted out the second year of the war, but 
many citizens of the town [and Kennebunk] joined those of other 
ports, some of whom were fortunate and others were lost." 

"A new privateer brig, the McDonough, Captain Weeks, with 
seventy men, was fitted out, but she fared no better than the Gleaner. 
She was captured the second day out by the Bacchante frigate and 
her crew carried to Halifax and afterwards to England and were 
imprisoned in Dartmoor till the end of the war. Two of her crew, 
Capt, John Stone and Jesse March, died in prison." 

"Two other fast-sailing privateers were built, the Ludlow and 
Lawrence. The former, commanded by Captain Mudge, was fitted 
out in the winter and on going to sea sprung a leak and put into 
Havana, where she was detained in making repairs till peace was 
proclaimed. [The Ludlow returned to the Port, where she was sold 
at auction, April 19, 1815. She was two hundred and eight tons 
burden and a remarkably fast sailer.] The Lawrence had not sailed 
when the Treaty of Peace was signed. She was sold to a merchant 
in Boston." 

News of the Treaty of Peace between this Country and Great 
Britain, which was signed December 24, 1814, was received in 
Boston by express, thirty-two hours from New York, about eight 
A. M. on the morning of February 13, 1815, and reached this town 
the next forenoon. (The cost of the express from New York to 
Boston was two hundred and twenty-five dollars.) The Visiter says: 
" Immediately on the receipt of the gratifying news of peace the in- 



260 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

habitants of Kennebunk and Arundel assembled in the village, as it 
were by instinct, the bell rang, the cannon roared, flags were dis- 
played and hurras rent the welkin. In the evening Washington Hall 
and several other buildings were illuminated. The event was sub- 
sequently celebrated by a 'Grand Peace Ball.'" 

"The Horse Marine." 

During the war the more costly piece goods that were kept in 
country stores found few or no purchasers among their regular cus- 
tomers, but there was a moderate demand for them in Boston and 
other large towns. Of course no goods of this description could be 
imported and thus it came about that the country storekeepers 
packed up all goods of this kind that were on their shelves and sent 
them to places where there was a market for them. The usual 
method of transporting merchandise from port to port by coasters 
was not then practicable, inasmuch as the enemy's cruisers were 
constantly in our immediate vicinity with the object of capturing our 
vessels, irrespective of their burden or employment. It was found 
necessary, therefore, to transport commodities of almost every 
description to and from diiferent places in wagons drawn by horses 
or oxen, chiefly the former. 

The prices of all merchandise of foreign manufacture or growth 
were exceedingly high and the temptation to smuggle them into the 
country was consequently very great. Custom house officers were 
numerous and vigilant everywhere, but in no section of the Union, 
probably, were they more plentiful than in Maine, — a border State 
with an extensive seacoast, affording countless harbors and nooks 
and corners where goods could be clandestinely landed, which caused 
it to be a suspected locality. Doubtless a great many smuggled goods 
were carried through the district in these wagons destined for Boston 
and elsewhere and were generally safely delivered. Government 
officers felt bound to overhaul all teams laden with packages in 
whatever form they were made up. These officers were exceedingly 
unpopular and as the wagoner, whether his load was composed of 
smuggled commodities or otherwise, would resist a search to the 
utmost of his ability, skirmishes frequently took place between the 
officers and the person suspected, but the latter always found friends 
and assistants near at hand. Abuse and rough handling of the 
official was winked at or applauded, and a joke upon him, whether 
rough or quiet, was remarkably well relished. With this explanation 
the following extracts from the Visiter will be understood readily 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 261 

and will, we think, be found both interesting and amusing. Under 
the facetious title of " Horse Marine List" the editor of the Visiter 
notes the arrival and departure of those barges operated by horse 
power. In the issue of October 9, 18 13, he says : — 

"Departed from this place, 7th inst., the fast sailing wagon. 
Rattler, Lt. Jefferds, for Boston, with dry goods, etc. Also Che- 
bacco boat, Skipper Daniels, for Boston, with hogshead shooks." 
In subsequent numbers of the paper we find the following: — 
"October 13. Arrived, the Rattler, Lt. Jefferds, cargo, wine, etc." 
" Passed this port since our last about twenty sail of horse and 
ox wagons from Bath and Portland bound to Boston with dry goods." 
"Arrived November 6, at noon, two horse cutters, 'Timothy 
Pickering' and 'Quincy Cannon Ball,' Commodore Delande, from 
Portland for Boston. Spoke on passage sixteen ox schooners from 
Bath for Boston, cargo, tin plate ; all well. Also saw on Scarborough 
turnpike a suspicious looking cutter, which we escaped by superior 
sailing." 

" On P'riday last a fleet of wagons touched at this place for a 
supply of whiskey. They were from Boston for Portland and Hal- 
lowell. Commodore Libbey, cargoes, tobacco and English goods. 
On Saturday the road was quite clear of craft, only one three-horse 
cutter passed, the master of which furnished us with the following 
extracts from his log-book: 'Saturday, nine a. m., Saco woods 
bearing four miles distant, spoke an armed cutter which informed 
that he had been chased by a swarthy-looking cutter which answered 
the description of the government commissioner cutter Jefferson's 
Favorite, which ran alongside and attempted to board, but our 
informant opened a galling fire from his breast guns that soon re- 
pulsed his assailant. The government cutter having obtained rein- 
forcements again ran alongside and attempted to grapple, but a few- 
well-directed shot from us compelled her to sheer off, she being 
much injured in her upper works, with blood in her scuppers; the 
victory was probably gained by our knocking in the captain's dead 
lights at the second broadside. At half-past ten was again boarded 
by the Jefferson's Favorite and overhauled, but not strictly, the 
boarding officer complaining of bad eyesight ; was permitted to 
proceed with the loss of a small canteen, the contents of which, on 
tasting, he declared to be Jamaica and therefore liable to confisca- 
tion. At one came to for refreshments, at two made sail, at three 
was chased by a suspicious-looking cutter, which was stopped by the 
toll man for arrearages, when we made our escape.' " 



262 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

These extracts are sufficient to convey a good idea of the inci- 
dents that frequently occurred on the road from 1812 to 18 15 and of 
the modus operandi by which the wagoners evaded or "met and con- 
quered" the government officials who were constantly on their track. 

War time was not entirely a season of dejection and idleness. 
There were many seamen who had been thrown out of employment 
and many shopkeepers and mechanics who could close their places 
of business without the risk of annoying customers by temporary 
absence, and these very frequently formed small parties, in their 
season, for berrying, gunning, playing games of cricket, baseball, 
quoits, ten-pins, etc. The bowling-alley was in a small grove of 
pines, a short distance northerly from the dwelling-house of the late 
Mrs. Simon Kimball, access to which was through a lane leading 
from the then main road to fields and pastures lying in that direc- 
tion. This was afterward removed to "Remich's Woods," where it 
remained for several years until destroyed, in May, 1826, during a 
short but destructive tornado, by the falling of trees which afforded 
it shade. The bowling-alley was not rebuilt, and we believe there 
has not been one in the village since that time, if we except one 
that was put up in a little shed which stood in the rear of the lot on 
which the Second Parish Church now stands. This, however, was 
of short duration, the shed, and of course with it the alley, having 
been torn down within two years after the latter had been built. 
Boating and fishing were the leading amusements during the sum- 
mer. There were several small boats on the Mousam, some of 
which were moored at " Kelley's Landing," others at "Wise's Dock," 
both near the old-time "Larrabee Village" and both now unfre- 
quented, but much the larger number were moored at the "Creek," 
where now not more than two or three can at any time be found. 
When an extra-sized party was to be provided for, one or more gon- 
dolas were brought into service and taken in tow by small boats. 
There were as many as four large gondolas on the river, capacious 
and rough, three of which, w-e are told, were moored at the several 
boat landings above named and one in a creek farther down. These 
were probably built before shipbuilding on the Mousam had ceased 
to be one of the industries of the town; they could then be profita- 
bly employed, but at the time concerning which we are writing they 
were chiefly used for bringing up to their respective landing places 
kelp and rockweed from the beaches, also soil and muck from the 
flats and marshes, which were carted to points where they could be 
advantageously utilized. These gondolas were broken up long 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



263 



since ; no river craft of this description can now be seen within the 
banks of the stream on which, in days gone by, such were so fre- 
quently found floating. At Kennebunk Landing gondolas were 
employed in the transportation of lumber to the Port for many years 
up to the time when our merchants were no longer shippers of lum- 
ber, for the reason that the interior towns could no longer furnish it 
of good quality in sufficient quantities to render a continuance of its 
shipment practicable or remunerative. Times have changed and 
this useful but ungainly boat is now rarely seen above the Lower Falls. 

President Monroe in Kennebunk. 

James Monroe, during the first year of his first term as Presi- 
dent of the United States, made a tour through the Eastern and 
Northern States with the purpose of inspecting in person the exposed 
points of our maritime and northwestern frontiers, the condition of 
the defenses of our harbors, etc. He was everywhere received with 
all possible attention, and in every section of the country visited 
during the tour party feeling was banished; Federalists and Repub- 
licans zealously united in tendering to him a hearty welcome. He 
left Washington on Saturday, the thirty-first day of May, 1817, and 
visited all the cities and many of the towns on the route to Boston, 
where he arrived on the second of July. He remained there until 
the fifth, on which day he continued his journey, taking the lower 
road (through Salem, etc.), and reached Portsmouth on the afternoon 
of the twelfth (Saturday). Here he tarried until the morning of the 
following Tuesday, when he resumed his journey. 

He crossed the Piscataqua on a ferryboat — the bridge from 
Portsmouth to Kittery was built at a later day — and stood on the 
soil of Maine, at Kittery, at an early hour. Here he was welcomed 
by many of the inhabitants of that town and of the neighboring 
towns, who had assembled to receive him. Proceeding thence, 
escorted by a large company of cavalry of " General Leighton's 
(Maine) Brigade," he was met at York by a committee of the town, 
at the head of which was the venerable Judge Sewall, commissioned 
by the "father of his country," in 1789, as judge of the District 
Court of Maine, who made an extemporaneous address to the Presi- 
dent, in which he adverted to the first settlement of York, under the 
auspices of Ferdinando Gorges, and to other particulars relating to 
the early history of that ancient town. The President was greatly 
interested in the address and responded with much feeling. He 
breakfasted with Judge Sewall. 



264 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Leaving York with the same escort that attended him from 
Kittery, the President was met about five miles west of Kennebunk 
Village by the committee of arrangements and many other citizens 
of that town. A momentary halt was made by the Presidential 
party, during which the chairman was introduced to the distin- 
guished visitor and other formalities observed. The party then 
moved forward under the continued escort of the York Cavalry, now 
joined by the Kennebunk Cavalry, with full ranks, commanded by 
Elisha Chadbourne ; then followed the committee of arrangements, 
the brigade and division officers and a numerous cavalcade of the 
citizens of both parishes in Wells and of Arundel, on horseback and 
in carriages. His proximity to the village was made known by the 
discharge of cannon and the ringing of the bell. Both sides of the 
street, west of Tavern Hill, and the avenue leading to the door in 
Jefferds's Hotel, where the carriage was to stop, were lined with a 
large concourse of people, and when near noon he alighted and was 
about to enter the hotel his welcome was proclaimed by loud and 
repeated cheers. Shortly afterward George W. Wallingford, chair- 
man of the committee of arrangements, made an address to the 
President, appropriate and eloquent, to which he replied at consid- 
erable length. The President then, by special invitation, proceeded 
to the dwelling-house of Joseph Storer, where he partook of a lunch 
prepared by Mrs. Storer with great taste and elegance. A few min- 
utes later he repaired on foot to his carriage, which by previous 
arrangement had been sent forward a short distance beyond the 
meeting-house, on the Portland road. Both sides of the street 
through which he passed were crowded with ladies, gentlemen and 
children, to whose salutations he bowed his acknowledgments. On 
reaching and entering his carriage he was again greeted with the 
prolonged cheers of the multitude. The village bridge over the 
Mousam and the street thence to the meeting-house were beautifully 
decorated with flags, arches of evergreen and flowers, appropriate 
mottoes, etc. The display was very creditable to the citizens. The 
Visiter oi July 14, 18 17, contained a full account of the day's pro- 
ceedings, including Mr. Wallingford's address entire and a compre- 
hensive summary of the President's remarks in reply. The rapid 
rate at which he traveled limited his stay in the village to not much 
exceeding an hour. 

The President wore what was termed the undress uniform of a 
Revolutionary officer, viz. : a blue military coat of home-made cloth, 
light-colored breeches and a cocked hat. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 265 

The President undoubtedly made a short stop in Saco while on 
his way to Portland, although we have not been able to find any 
account of his reception there. He tarried in Portland from Tues- 
day evening until Thursday morning, at which time he left that place 
on his return. He breakfasted with Judge Thatcher, at Biddeford, 
and passed through Kennebunk at eleven a. m. on his way to Dover, 
N. H. He reached Washington on the seventeenth of September, 
having been absent one hundred and twenty days. 

President Monroe made a tour through the Southern States in 
1819. He left the seat of government on the fifth of April, traveled 
along the seaboard as far as Savannah, Ga., and returned to the 
Capital early in July. 

The Kennebunk Cavalry Company. 

A company of cavalry, composed of citizens of Kennebunk, 
Wells and Kennebunkport, was organized between the years 1790 
and 1795, under an act of incorporation granted by the Massachu- 
setts Legislature. Its average membership was sixty. The uniform 
adopted by the company was very becoming — dress of red cloth, 
sword and pistols, with appropriate hat or cap. The horses on 
which they rode were also tastefully caparisoned. This company 
made a fine appearance on parade and especially when marching. 
The parade for roll-call and exercise, as well as for dismissal of 
the troop when marches and other exercises of the day had been 
performed, was at the roadside near and west of the First Parish 
Church, which was also the parade of other military companies 
whose headquarters were in the village. 

From time to time several of the original members removed to 
other towns and the remainder were exempted, by age, from the 
performance of military duty. For a while the places made vacant 
by retiring members were readily supplied; after 1817, however, 
the muster roll gradually diminished until about 1822 this company 
virtually disbanded. John Burnham, of Lower Alewive, was the 
last clerk of the organization. The author, a few years ago, inquired 
of Mr. Burnham whether the earlier records of the company could 
now be found. He thought they had not been properly cared for 
by his predecessors; doubtless they had been destroyed, or if found 
at all, sadly mutilated. Among the reasons given by him for the 
rapid decline in its numbers were the facts that the equipage was 
somewhat costly and that it required a pretty good horseback rider 
to make a respectable appearance on parade or on the march; there- 



266 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

fore very few applications were made for membership, as not many 
could be found who were willing to incur the expense or who pos- 
sessed the required accomplishment. 

Mr, Burnham also stated that on a certain May training day 
the captain, a private and himself were all that appeared. When 
the stated day for the next meeting for parade and drill came along 
he thought it his duty, as clerk, to be present at the appointed time 
and place, and so, in full regimentals and with his muster roll, he 
appeared promptly on parade. At the specified hour he was there, 
but alone. He waited until three p. m., when he called the roll, but 
without a response, and then and there was the finale of the Kenne- 
bunk Cavalry Company. 

The Artillery Company. 

A number of young men belonging to Kennebunk and Arundel 
petitioned the governor and council (of Massachusetts) for the for- 
mation of an artillery company, to be composed of individuals resid- 
ing in those towns. The petition was granted, and a meeting of the 
petitioners was held at Washington Hall on the twenty-second day 
of August, 1817, for the choice of officers, which resulted in the 
election of Barnabas Palmer, Captain; William W. Wise, First 
Lieutenant; Edward E. Bourne, Second Lieutenant; Davenport 
Tucker, Clerk, and other minor officers. Its title was "The Wells 
and Arundel Artillery Company." The uniform of its members was 
showy and becoming. The company made a fine appearance when 
on parade, affording evidence that they were thoroughly disciplined 
and that they were untiring in their efforts to render their organiza- 
tion "a valuable addition to the brigade." An elegant standard, 
donated by ladies of the village, was presented to the company in 
August, 18 1 8, by Miss Sarah Grant, who sent it to the commanding 
officer, accompanied by a note which was exceedingly appropriate, 
as was the answer of Captain Palmer in behalf of the company. 
Joseph G. Moody was appointed Surgeon of the battalion of artillery 
in the first brigade. In 18 19 Mr, Palmer, having been appointed 
Major of the battalion, first brigade of sixth division, resigned his 
position of Captain and Lieutenant Wise was chosen to fill the 
vacancy; Ensign Clement Jefferds was chosen Lieutenant, and 
James Osborn, Ensign. 

Two brass fieldpieces, carrying balls of six pounds in weight, 
were furnished to this company by the State, which, years later, 
after the company had disbanded, were transferred to the Limerick 
Artillery, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 267 

Thomas Dighton, aged twenty-one years, died April 23, 18 19. 
His remains were interred with military honors by the artillery com- 
pany, of which he was a member. 

The company, in full uniform, visited Kennebunkport Village 
September 22, 1828. A card was published in the Gazette by the 
officers and privates, tendering their grateful acknowledgments to 
the citizens of that village "for the very flattering reception given 
them on the 2 2d inst. by the decoration of the shipping in port, the 
salute of cannon and the very handsome collation which was pro- 
vided for their refreshment." 

When the militia laws of Maine had been revised, and company 
trainings and general musters were no longer required, the interest 
in this excellent company began to decline and in a short space of 
time thereafter it was disbanded. There was not a sufficient amount 
of military spirit among the young men of this town to continue the 
organization under the provisions of the law respecting independent 
companies. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

"COCHRANISM." 

One of those fanatical delusions which have by far too often 
disturbed the peace of communities — have existed only in after time 
to be deplored — and under the guise of religion have desecrated the 
name its followers dared to assume obtained a footing in this town 
in the autumn of 1817. It was known outside the ranks of its dev- 
otees as Cochranism. One Jacob Cochrane, who started on his 
career from Fryeburg, Maine, about 18 15, succeeded in creating a 
wonderful excitement and in gaining great numbers of proselytes in 
several towns in Oxford, Cumberland and York Counties during the 
years 1816, 1817 and 1818. He pretended that he was a divinely- 
commissioned teacher. So far as we can learn he proposed no new 
articles of religious faith and did not observe the ordinances of 
baptism or the Lord's Supper. His educational acquirements were 
quite limited and he was no more, certainly, than an ordinary 
public speaker. He w-as about thirty-five years of age when he 
commenced his ministry, in person tall and robust, with a pleasant 
countenance, although indicating more of sensuality than of intel- 
lectuality; his voice was harsh; his demeanor, although not boorish, 
did not indicate mental culture or refinement of manners. He had 
lived several years in Fryeburg, where he kept a small stock of 
goods, chiefly groceries, and was very fairly patronized. He was 
considered, by those who dealt with him, as a "clever fellow," but 
rather indolent; his moral character, in the estimation of his neigh- 
bors, was good. 

A trifling incident led to an entire change in the views and 
prospects of the subject of our story: One dull afternoon three of 
his associates were in the store and, during an interchange of small 
talk, one of them perpetrated a joke on Cochrane which occasioned 
a laugh at his expense. Standing directly opposite the joker, Coch- 
rane deliberately but good-naturedly said : " If you repeat that I 
will tell something about you that will make you repent it," with 
each word raising and lowering his right hand, which was quite 
near the person addressed, who, when the sentence was completed, 
was evidently in a somnolent state. The occurrence was attributed 

268 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 269 

to sleepiness, and nothing more was thought about it at the time. A 
fortnight later the three friends met at the store, when the incident 
at the former meeting was referred to, and it was proposed to try 
the operation again. This was done and repeated several times, by 
the same persons and with a like result. These experiments excited 
considerably more attention than had the former one, on the part of 
both actors and witnesses. Still again, after an interval of a few 
days, the friends were together. The experiment was again tried ; 
each of the friends was "put to sleep" by Cochrane, but neither of 
them could succeed in effecting upon each other or upon Cochrane 
a like condition. 

Neither Cochrane nor his friends, it is safe to say, had heard of 
animal magnetism or mesmerism. Its mysterious and as yet unex- 
plained influence was discovered by Mesmer in 1775, forty years 
before the incident in Cochrane's store. If he had been acquainted 
with the facts then established in relation to this phenomenon, he 
could not have obtained the idea that it must be regarded as a divine 
call for him to preach and he would, probably, have confined the 
exhibitions of his "gift" to its occasional employment for the edifi- 
cation of his friends and others. We may suppose that his store 
would not have been relinquished ; that the baser passions of his 
nature would not have been aroused by the peculiar temptations to 
which his peculiar position exposed him ; that he would have lived 
quietly, contented with his business and with the gain derived from it. 

If the public had been enlightened on the subject, the trance 
state into which persons were thrown would have been considered 
curious and unexplainable, but there never would have been a sus- 
picion that the power exercised entitled the manipulator to claim 
that he was a divinely-commissioned teacher; none except the will- 
fully ignorant would for a moment have harbored the idea that it 
was a supernatural operation. While admitting that it was wonder- 
ful, they would have seen that it was more nearly allied to earth 
than heaven, and that it might be perverted to baneful uses; that it 
needed watchful care rather than blindfold admission. If the phe- 
nomenon had been justly estimated, there would have been saved 
the incalculable amount of vice, wretchedness and degradation 
occasioned by the delusion of Cochranism. 

Cochrane was impressed with the belief that he had been 
endowed with supernatural power and that it could not be otherwise 
interpreted than as a "call" to preach, while his friends were satis 
fied he possessed an extraordinary gift. He went to his boarding- 



270 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

house that afternoon nervous and thoughtful; in his mind there 
existed not a doubt that he had been called to preach. He dis- 
trusted his ability for the work, but he trusted that He who gave the 
"call" would furnish the talent and strength that should enable him 
to fulfill the obligation imposed on him. Noticing his abstracted 
manner, his landlady^ — from whom, many years ago, the author 
derived these facts respecting his life in Fryeburg — inquired the 
cause. He told the story of his repeated exercise of the marvelous 
power with which he had been endowed, of the inference he drew 
because this gift had been bestowed on him, of his mental struggles, 
of his determination to leave his business and become a minister of 
the everlasting gospel. In all these views and in their conclusion 
drawn his wife heartily concurred. The resolution thus formed and 
seconded was soon carried into effect, Cochrane became a preacher. 
His prayers and exhortations were pronounced commonplace and 
unedifying, but the people were awestruck when they witnessed the 
trance state into which persons were thrown and listened to the 
amazing narrations by these persons, when they were restored to 
consciousness, of words they had heard and of sights they had seen. 
In the places visited by him, those of discriminating judgment were 
persuaded that these manifestations could not be of divine origin, 
but "were of the earth, earthy"; still they freely confessed that 
they were unable satisfactorily to account for them. Others, and 
their number was not small, accepted at once and fully the idea that 
they were attestations from Heaven of the divinity of his mission. 

Cochrane soon gained a prominence and fame which at the 
outset he had neither sought nor expected. The superstitious 
notion that led him to become a religious teacher had no basis of 
sound morality, no affinity with pure Christian faith. Surrounded 
and fawned upon, as he was, by females of all ages, it was easy for 
him to cast aside the modicum of spirituality that had influenced his 
action — if, indeed, he had ever been moved by such an influence — 
and to yield to the " lusts of the flesh," to devote his unexplainable 
gift to the basest purposes, to become an impostor and a scourge- 
There were among his followers pure-minded, truly-excellent men 
and women, who would not participate in the unhallowed practices 
of their leader. Some of these had sufficient intelligence and firm- 
ness to enable them to abandon the cause altogether. Others, weak- 
minded, credulous and superstitious, disapproved and lamented 

' Mrs. Johannah Hubbard, wife of Samuel Hubbard, who moved from Frye- 
burg to this town in 1816. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 271 

the gross corruption of their chief, but could not subdue the feeling 
that such power as had been imparted to him must be from above ; 
completely dazed, they were ashamed to defend or openly acknowl- 
edge fealty to the impostor, while they dared not range themselves 
in a line with the disbelievers and opponents. 

The leading feature at Cochrane's meetings was the trance 
state into which some of the disciples would fall during the progress 
of the services, followed, when the subjects were restored to con- 
sciousness, by relations of the visions they had seen and of the 
conversations they had held with the spirits of the departed. The 
usual "order of exercises" was prayer, singing, reading of the Scrip- 
tures (this, we are informed, was frequently omitted), a brief exhor- 
tation by Cochrane and quite often exhortations by one or more of 
the brethren, then trances, then, in due time, the recitals of the 
wonderful things that had been seen and heard by those who had 
awakened from the trance state, intermingled with shouts by the 
brothers and sisters of "Glory to God," "Glory to God in the high- 
est," groans, clapping of hands and jumping. One sister, at one of 
these meetings, shouted "Glory to God in the highest" one hundred 
and hve times in quick succession, jumping clear from the floor 
each time. During this operation, from all quarters of the room, 
would be heard, in different tones, "Glory," "Amen," "Glory to 
God," "My soul's a witness to God's salvation," "Amen," "Glory." 
Mingled with all this would be the singing of "O how it makes me 
stare to see professors curl their hair," and similar strains of warn- 
ing, adjuration and threatening. Quite often, in the midst of this 
hubbub, a parent, a brother or sister, would go through the crowd 
with a child in the trance state, feigned or otherwise, in his or her 
arms, and repeating, in solemn tone, "Behold the power of God," 
" Behold the works of the Lord." When it is considered that there 
was no pulpit, no singers' seats, but that the chief and his disciples 
mingled with the sinners and scoffers on the floor, it may readily be 
imagined that confused scenes were exhibited at these meetings, 
calculated to frighten the timid, to rouse the excitable to the wildest 
action, and to convert a religious meeting, falsely so-called, into a 
chaotic medley of shouts and groans, of jumping and clapping, of 
undevout, aimless and unmeaning demonstrations. 

The Newburyport Herald (May or June, 1819) says: "We 
have seen a pamphlet, published by a Baptist minister of regular 
standing in New Gloucester [Maine], giving an account of Cochrane 
and his deluded followers. It appears that under the guise of reli- 



272 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

gion they have committed the most indecent and abominable acts of 
adultery. . . . One of their leading tenets was to dissolve the 
ties of matrimony as suited their convenience, and a promiscuous 
sexual intercourse was tolerated by each male, being allowed to 
take seven wives / It seems Cochrane, the high priest of iniquity, 
had had nearly half his female followers for wives in the course of 
his ministration, which has been two years standing." 

The principal places of resort of the disciples of Cochrane, so 
far as we can learn, were New Gloucester, Buxton, Saco and Ken- 
nebunk. At the last-named place meetings were frequently held in 
Washington Hall, and there were in the village three private dwell- 
ing-houses in some one of which a meeting was held every evening 
when the hall was not occupied for that purpose. In the largest 
and best of the three from ten to twenty of the brothers and sisters 
were accustomed to take up their abode from two to four weeks at 
a time, perhaps quarterly. None of the families occupying these 
houses were united in the support of the pretensions of the chief, 
but in each those in favor of him somehow gained the ascendancy 
and opened their doors to him and his followers. Those who were 
first to embrace his cause had always shown a crankness in regard 
to religious views. With them regularly-ordained ministers were 
hirelings, members of regularly-organized societies were "starched- 
up hypocrites," regular services were cold and valueless; a method 
of worship was preferred by which the feelings were excited, where 
there was ''freedom of speech" and action, where ejaculations and 
groans were evidences of faith and the reliance for salvation, and 
yet these erratic persons, whose notions were so entirely irreconcil- 
able with the teachings and requirements of the Great Master, were 
in the main kind-hearted and estimable neighbors and good citizens. 

Meetings were also held within the Landing precinct and at the 
Lower Village, in each of which the converts far outnumbered those 
in the village. It would be useless, we suppose, to allege that all 
the converts in our town were free from the charge of unchaste and 
other improper conduct, — the traditions relating to that time would 
not warrant such a declaration, — but we do believe that, as a whole, 
they were undeserving the sweeping charges made in the foregoing 
extract, although we fear there was good ground in some other 
places for giving them full credence. When the abominations 
exhibited in the home life of many of the members of this "new 
sect" became so atrocious that it was criminal even for well-disposed 
citizens longer to permit them to go unchecked, the better class of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 273 

those who had been his supporters forsook him ; especially was it 
so, we are told, in this town. A few, and but a few, defended him 
with the senseless remark that "he was a man of God, persecuted 
for righteousness sake." 

Numberless anecdotes were told of Cochrane and his male and 
female followers for many years after the "craze" had accomplished 
its destructive work and passed away. It would not be well to 
repeat them here. One of them, however, is so odorous of disap- 
pointment and crustiness that we are tempted to put it on record. 
Cochrane had attempted to raise a deceased brother to life. A dis- 
believer, shortly afterward, while passing a disciple said to him : 

" Your prophet couldn't raise old man to life." " No wonder at 

all," retorted the disciple; "he was always an ugly, obstinate cuss, 
while living, and he had not been dead long enough for his devilish 
obstinacy to ooze out of him." 

The time came when it was believed by the lovers of good 
order that these flagrant offenses against the best interests of society 
should be met by the fiat, "No farther." In February, 1819, Coch- 
rane was brought before Justice Granger, of Saco, on a complaint 
of gross lewdness, lascivious behavior and adultery, filed against 
him by Mr. Ichabod Jordan. On examination, the allegations of 
the complainant were so well sustained by the evidence produced 
that the Justice ordered the accused to recognize in the sum of 
eighteen hundred dollars for his appearance before the Supreme 
Judicial Court, at York, on the third Tuesday in May following. 
This he did. 

At the commencement of the May term of the Supreme Judicial 
Court the grand jury found a bill against Cochrane and "he was 
arraigned on the third day of the term on five several indictments 
for adultery and open and gross lewdness," to each of which he 
pleaded "not guilty." On the trial for the offenses charged in the 
second bill of indictment the jury brought in a verdict of "guilty." 
It was found that the prisoner was not in court when the jury ren- 
dered its verdict, and farther inquiries disclosed the fact that he 
had absconded. The court then ordered his sureties to be defaulted 
on their recognizances. 

Judge Putnam presided during this term of the court. Daniel 
Davis, solicitor general, was counsel for the Commonwealth, and 
John Holmes, of Alfred, and George W. Wallingford, of Kennebunk, 
appeared as counsel for the defendant. The trial was reported by 
Gamaliel E. Smith, of Newfield. 

13 



274 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The particulars respecting Cochrane's disappearance and sub- 
sequent apprehension we are unable to furnish. We learn from the 
court records that at the November (1819) term of the Supreme 
Judicial Court "the said Cochrane is brought into court and set to 
the bar" and sentenced, — on the first count, to solitary imprison- 
ment for the term of five days and that afterward he be confined to 
hard labor for eighteen months ; on the second count a like sentence 
is imposed; on the third count, three days solitary confinement and 
one year hard labor ; sentence to be executed at the state prison in 
Charlestown, Mass. Warrant for removal to the prison issued 
November 3, 18 ig. 

It appeared from the testimony of witnesses examined at the 
trial that the members of Cochrane's society were required to sign 
an agreement, in substance as follows: "The Society of Free 
Brethren and Sisters, knowing it a duty, as Christians, to keep the 
secrets of the Lord, for the secrets of the Lord are with them that 
love him, therefore I do voluntarily covenant with Jacob Cochrane, 
Aaron McKenney and Joseph Bryant to keep the secrets of the 
society, and if I do disclose any of the secrets of the society, or of 
the members thereof, that my name may be blotted out of the 
Lamb's Book of Life." 

Cochrane with his adherents did not celebrate the "Lord's 
Supper," but in place of this introduced a service which he called 
"the Passover." We cannot furnish any description of this service; 
that there was a "feast" connected with it, it is safe to assume, but 
how often or with what ceremonies it was observed we are unable 
to state. Efforts to obtain reliable information respecting it have 
been entirely unsuccessful. 

The last time Cochrane was seen in Kennebunk was within a 
few months after the expiration of the term for which he had been 
sentenced to prison — 1824. He called upon Mr. James K. Remich 
and at once explained the object of his visit. He proposed to write 
his autobiography, but could not do so without copying largely from 
his trial, which Mr. Remich published and of which he held the 
copyright; he wished him to publish the autobiography and allow 
free use of the trial. After an hour's conversation on the subject, 
Mr. Remich said: "Mr. Cochrane, do you wish me to understand 
that you propose to make it appear that you are an innocent and 
persecuted man and have been convicted and punished on false 
testimony.^" The answer was: "Yes, sir." "Then," said Mr, 
Remich, "you must seek a printer elsewhere; I cannot be instru- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 275 

mental in giving such a book to the public. I am satisfied you were 
not arrested without good cause, and that the finding of the jury 
and your sentence were just." Mr. Cochrane simply remarked: 
'•Then I suppose I shall be compelled to abandon my design." As 
he was leaving the house it was noticed that he was thinly clad to 
withstand the rough weather, it being a bitterly cold day in winter. 
Mr. Remich called him back and provided him with a substantial 
lunch, then harnessing his horse to a sleigh took him as far as 
Ogunquit, feeling that, wretched as he was, he was a fellow-creature. 
There he left him and retraced his path homeward, while Cochrane, 
with his staff, took the road to York, where he remained a few days. 
This visit to Kennebunk, it is believed, was his last appearance in 
this vicinity, but where he made his headquarters for the ten or 
eleven years following, or how he was employed during these years, 
we have no knowledge. We next hear of him in South Hadley, 
Mass., in 1835. The Spritig/icld Journal ^nhWshes the following: 

"A gentleman from South Hadley informs us that Cochrane 
had recently figured in that vicinity, under the assumed name of 
"Jacob the Prophet," pretending to be a prophet of the Most High 
God and claiming the power to work miracles. He succeeded there 
in making a number of proselytes and founding a small sect of 
religionists. As soon as his real name and character became known 
to the inhabitants, he absconded and went to Stratham, N. H., tak- 
ing with him some of his deluded followers, a number of whom were 
young females. He returned to South Hadley not long since in 
female clothing. He thus escaped recognition and the fact of his 
visit was not known until after he had left. It is believed that he 
now occasionally visits Hadley and holds secret meetings with his 
deluded followers, most of whom are females." 

A Stratham correspondent of the Portsmouth (N. H.) Gazette of 
September 2, 1835, states that Cochrane is in that town and that 
"he assumes various names and disguises and endeavors to palm 
himself upon the good people of some of the country towns of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire as a prophet and religious teacher. 
He has by the aid of some of his deluded followers succeeded in 
establishing a Convent in the town of Stratham, which is occupied 
by some of his disciples of both sexes, victims of his disgusting 
sentiments. The citizens are determined to abolish this temple of 
iniquity unless it is removed. The peace of the town is disturbed 
by the bowlings and yellings of these infatuated wretches. The 
citizens will no longer tolerate such shameful transactions, and 



276 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

efforts are making to rout them, 'peaceably if they can, forcibly if 
they must.'" 

One Joseph Smith — a "new light preacher,"' in the language 
of the time — came to this town a few years before the advent of 
Cochrane, He did not have a large number of followers, and it is 
believed that his field of operations embraced only this and one or 
two of the neighboring towns. He was a harmless man, producing 
only a small amount of excitement and doing very little if any harm, 
although he at one time endeavored to overturn the meeting-house 
and thus signalize his ministry. At the time appointed for the per- 
formance of this feat a number of Smith's adherents, as well as of 
curious skeptics, were present. There was prayer, singing, another 
prayer, then the inserting of hands under the sill of the eastern side 
of the building and then a long and strong lift, but the old church 
was stubborn. After two or three trials, Doctor Fisher, who was 
among the spectators, suggested to " Brother Smith " that the north- 
ern end would afford better facilities for obtaining "a good hold," 
with the additional advantage that when this end had been raised a 
few feet the tall steeple at the other end would be moved and would 
draw the building over quickly and with a grand crash worthy the 
occasion. At this suggestion the unbelievers joined in a hearty 
laugh, the faithful scowled indignantly, and Brother Smith, thor- 
oughly disgusted, relinquished the undertaking. All left the ground 
quietly, but probably in different moods. 

An old citizen once rehearsed to the author an " exhortation " 
by a brother at a Smithite meeting, which was held in an outskirt of 
the village : " I see lots of folks down here from Mousam, with 
their white chokers [neckerchiefs] on, walking about, grinning, ah 
[Amen!]. I suppose they think they are some great things, <?// 
[Amen ! Amen !], but if the truth was known I guess it would be 
found that they are no better than the rest on us, ah [Amen ! Glory !].'' 

Nearly all the disciples of Smith afterward ranged themselves 
under the leadership of Cochrane. We have been told, buf whether 
correctly or incorrectly we cannot say, that Joseph was related to 
the celebrated and eccentric Elias. We should judge that he was, 
at least so far as his talents would permit, an imitator of that at one 
time popular preacher. 

Whenever one of these fanatical excitements was in operation 
the "old church" was the first to receive the maledictions of over- 
zealous devotees ; it was the giant that obstructed the way to the 
"new Jerusalem," the monument of ungodliness that must be over- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 277 

thrown. It is really wonderful that this tomfoolery should have 
been repeated again and again. When Cochranism was at its 
height a member of Mr. Fletcher's church said to that gentleman: 
" Why do you not denounce these outrageous proceedings from the 
pulpit?" "Let them alone," was the answer, " If these things are 
of God they will prosper, if of man they will perish. Let them 
alone." This policy has always proved to be judicious, has always 
assured harmony in the parish ; but it was annoying to the assail- 
ants, inasmuch as it deprived them of all opportunity to raise the 
cry of persecution and thus temporarily to magnify their own 
importance. 

During the first half of 1800, while the sparseness of population 
and the limited means of the majority prevented the erection of 
houses of worship equal to the wants of persons of different religious 
views within our territory, those of the inhabitants whose ideas 
respecting doctrines and modes of worship were not in accord with 
the "old denominations," but who were, nevertheless, lovers of 
orderly and intelligent public services, from time to time formed 
temporary societies or associations and held meetings in halls or 
private dwellings; they preferred "another way," but never, by 
word or act, denied to others the courtesies, rights and privileges 
which they claimed for themselves. We have good reason to believe 
that no purer or more acceptable worship ever ascended from earth 
to heaven than that which proceeded from many of these gatherings. 
The large-hearted and pious Buzzell and many other worthy teach- 
ers whose names we cannot now recall, but who by precept and 
example honored the cause in which they were engaged, did much 
to arouse their hearers to sober thoughts and to influence them to 
lead better lives. Times have changed! These then itinerant dis- 
senters, rational in their views and earnest in their advocacy of 
them, represented new and feeble societies of dissenters which have 
now attained to denominations that rank with the largest, most 
respectable and influential of our religious organizations. 

Open-air meetings were occasionally held, for many years, in 
the beautiful grove of pines that once stood midway between the 
village and Boothby's Beach. The devotions here, as a whole, were 
honest and helpful. Men, who themselves lived good lives, besought 
the wayward and thoughtless to go up higher in the scale of practi- 
cal holiness; presented to their hearers the apostolic and self-evident 
injunction that he " who hath not the spirit of Christ is none of his" ; 
enjoined upon them the important truth that "faith without works 



278 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

is dead," and that professions of faith alone could not produce that 
serenity of mind enjoyed by the true Christian or insure the hoped- 
for inheritance in the life to come unless supplemented by a daily 
-walk in accordance with the teachings of the Great Exemplar as 
portrayed in the matchless Sermon on the Mount. Such utterances, 
by men whose lives exemplified their words of counsel, were not 
without salutary results. 

A man named Hull Barton was quite a conspicuous personage 
in this and the neighboring towns, in 1828, as a preacher and 
reformer. The small number of Cochrane's disciples in these towns 
who remained open defenders of their former leader became his 
supporters and co-workers. They adopted many of Cochrane's 
methods of proselytism, but, we think, were not chargeable with his 
gross immoralities. Unlike his predecessor, he made considerable 
pretension to literary acquirements and was a prolific writer on the 
subjects that engrossed his attention. As it was difficult for him to 
obtain admission of his articles in the columns of the newspapers of 
the time, he gave no small quantity of his efifusions to the public 
through the medium of small pamphlets of which he was both 
author and publisher. A most ridiculous farce was enacted on the 
fourth of February, 1828, when three persons, styled "ordaining 
elders," ordained Barton as pastor over the society of believers that 
had been gathered by Cochrane. We presume the exercises were 
brief and unique. It is said Barton baptized some twenty or thirty 
persons, chiefly young girls, a part of them without the knowledge 
or consent of their parents, who lived in the immediate vicinity. 
Of these and the time-tried disciples of Cochrane a church was insti- 
tuted, to which he administered what he called the "Lord's Supper." 
He was in this vicinity two or three years. 



PART SECOND 



History of Kennebunk 

1820 to 1890 



CHAPTER. I. 

SEPARATION OF THE DISTRICT OF MAINE FROM THE COMMONWEALTH 

OF MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF THE TOWN OF WELLS 

INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF KENNEHUNK. 

Within two years after the close of the Revolutionary War the 
subject of the separation of the District of Maine from the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts, and the formation of the District into 
an independent State, began to be earnestly discussed. This prop- 
osition found many advocates, but the majority of the people were 
not disposed to give it much attention. The union of Maine with 
Massachusetts had unquestionably been of great benefit to the inhab- 
itants of the District, and in the minds of the masses the sound maxim, 
"Let well enough alone," was in this instance especially deserving of 
consideration. There were many arguments, pertinent and forcible, 
that were presented in favor of as well as against the measure, but 
just then the agitation of the question was generally thought to be pre- 
mature. Its advocates, however, were determined and persistent in 
their efforts. Their initial movement was the calling of a conven- 
tion, at Falmouth (Portland), to take such action in reference to this 
matter as might be considered expedient. It was held the last of 
December, 1785, or in January, 1786. Although Wells was strongly 
opposed to separation, the town voted to accept the invitation, "per 
letter," to send a delegate to Falmouth, and at a meeting held 
December 5, 1785, elected John Storer to represent them in said 
convention. Beyond an interchange of views on the subject which 
they had met to consider, nothing was done by the delegates except 
to recommend that another meeting be held at Portland on the last 
Wednesday in January, 1787. Wells resolved not to take part in 
this meeting and voted, October 2, 1786, not to send a delegate 
thereto, and also voted that the town disapproves, "under present 
circumstances," of any action looking to separation, etc. This 
second convention met at the appointed time, but its proceedings 
were unimportant. 

Notwithstanding the advocates of separation had thus far met 
with very little encouragement, they were unyielding in their efforts. 
In private circles and at public meetings the subject was discussed 

281 



282 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and thus kept before the people until, in 1792, when it was believed 
that public sentiment had become more favorably disposed toward 
the project, they succeeded in obtaining the passage of a resolve by 
the General Court of Massachusetts requiring the inhabitants of the 
District of Maine, consisting of the counties of York, Cumberland, 
Lincoln, Hancock and Washington, to express their views, through 
the ballot box, respecting the separation of said District and " form- 
ing a distinct Government therein," Pursuant to this resolve, the 
inhabitants of Wells, on the first Monday in May, 1792, "after a 
discussion of the question," proceeded to ballot, with this result: 
six in favor of it and one hundred and twenty-four against it. The 
aggregated votes of the District proved that the majority was 
opposed to separation. Two years later, in 1794, the towns in the 
District were again solicited to choose delegates to a convention 
appointed to be held in Portland, on the second Tuesday of October 
in that year, to consider the question of separation. Again it was 
found that the advocates of division had overestimated their strength 
and a third convention met and adjourned without any favorable 
result. In reference to this last call the Wells records say: "The 
question being put whether the town would send a delegate, . . 
it passed in the negative." Still the workers for division labored 
with unabated zeal to this end. It was made the theme of conver- 
sation in the tavern, the store, around the courthouse, at town meet- 
ings, everywhere, and not without indications that their cause was 
really gaining strength. Another appeal was made to the people in 
1797. On the tenth of May in that year the several towns in the 
District voted on this question : " Shall application be made to the 
Legislature for their consent to a separation of the District of Maine 
from the residue of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that the 
same may be erected into a separate State?" On this question, in 
Wells, there were fifteen yeas and one hundred and fifteen nays. 
For the ensuing nine years the friends of division confined their 
efforts to discussions of the subject. On the first Monday in April, 
1807, the several towns in the District voted on the following ques- 
tion : " Shall the senators and representatives of the District of 
Maine make application to the Legislature for their consent to a 
separation of Maine from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
and that the same may be erected into a State.?" A majority of 
the votes in the District were against the proposition. In Wells the 
vote stood: Yeas, eight; nays, three hundred and twenty. 

Failing to impress the majority with the idea that separation 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 283 

would largely contribute to the prosperity of the whole District, and 
finding, also, that many of those who admitted that this measure 
was desirable were not at all enthusiastic in its support, wearied 
with the various methods that had been resorted to, without any 
appreciable advancement of the cause they were designed to pro- 
mote, the advocates of division — 1815-18x6 — determined again to 
bring the matter before the Massachusetts Legislature and in a 
form that would be more effective than the means they had been 
pursuing. Petitions were presented at the commencement of the 
session, January, 1816, which were referred to a committee, with 
instructions to ascertain the extent of the applications for separa- 
tion. This committee made a report by which it appeared that 
forty-nine towns, with a population of fifty thousand two hundred 
and sixty-four, had petitioned, and that there had been petitions of 
individuals from forty-three other towns, the petitioners numbering 
two thousand nine hundred and thirty-six. The population of 
Maine in two hundred and ten towns, excluding plantations, was 
stated to be two hundred and twenty-eight thousand seven hundred 
and five, and it was estimated that the applicants embraced about 
one-fifth of the legal voters. The committee, however, recommended 
that consent be given to the separation on terms and conditions 
particularized in an accompanying "resolve concerning the separa- 
tion of the District of Maine from Massachusetts proper," which 
required the inhabitants of said District to convene in their respect- 
ive towns on the twentieth day of May, 18 16, and give in their writ- 
ten votes, yea or nay, on the question of such separation and the 
erection of said District into a separate State. The result of this 
balloting was as follows : Yeas, ten thousand five hundred and 
eighty-four; nays, six thousand four hundred and ninety-one. 
There were thirty-seven thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight 
qualified voters in the towns from which returns were received, 
considerably less than one-half of whom availed themselves of the 
privilege of expressing their views through the ballot box. Wells 
voted: Yeas, twenty-seven; nays, one hundred and fifty-one. In 
Arundel the vote stood: Yeas, twenty-seven; nays, sixty. The 
returns of the votes cast at these town meetings were laid before 
the Legislature, June 5, 1816, and were referred to a joint com- 
mittee, which reported a preamble and act concerning the question, 
which passed both branches and was approved by the governor. 
By the provisions of this act the inhabitants of Maine were required 
to hold meetings in their respective towns on the first Monday in 



•2S-4 HISTORY OF kennp:bunk. 

September for the purpose of choosing delegates to meet in conven- 
tion, at Brunswick, on the last Monday in said month, and also, at 
the same meeting, to vote on the question of the expediency of the 
separation, returns of which votes were to be made to the president of 
the aforesaid convention within four days after its meeting; and if 
it should appear that a majority of five to four, at least, of the votes 
so returned favored separation, then, and not otherwise, said 
convention shall proceed to form a constitution for said separate 
and independent State. Delegates were chosen throughout the 
State, on the first Monday in September, in accordance with the 
above-named act. In Wells, George W, Wallingford, Joseph Dane, 
Jacob Fisher, Nahum Morrill and Joseph Oilman were chosen. On 
the question of the expediency of separation, in Wells, the yeas 
were forty-seven and the nays three hundred and seventy-four; in 
Arundel the yeas were sixteen and the nays one hundred and thir- 
teen. The delegates elect met in convention, at Brunswick, on the 
thirtieth of September and organized by the choice of William King 
as president and Samuel K. Whiting as secretary. King received 
ninety-seven votes for president and Ezekiel Whitman eighty-five. 
The committee to which the returns of votes had been referred 
reported '"that the whole number of yeas is eleven thousand nine 
hundred and sixty-nine, the whole number of nays is ten thousand 
three hundred and forty-seven; that the majority of yeas of the 
towns and plantations in favor of separation is six thousand and 
thirty-one; that the majority of nays in the towns and plantations 
opposed to a separation is four thousand four hundred and nine; 
and that the majority of yeas as aforesaid is to the majority of nays 
as aforesaid a majority of five to four, at least, of the votes returned." 
This is the famous "Brunswick arithmetic." The report closed 
with recommending the adoption of a resolution for the appointment 
of a committee of five to make application to the Massachusetts 
Legislature for its formal consent that the District of Maine shall 
be an independent State; another for the appointment of a com- 
mittee of fifty-two to report a constitution for the State of Maine ; 
another for a committee to make application to Congress for the 
admission of Maine into the Union; another that the convention be 
adjourned to the third Tuesday in the following December, to meet 
in Brunswick. (For this adjourned meeting no necessity existed at 
the date named for the reassembling of the delegates.) The report 
and resolutions were accepted, — yeas, one hundred and three; nays, 
eighty-three,^ 

'A journal of the proceedings of the Brunswick Convention, by Gamaliel E. 
Smith, a in(MiiI)er of said convention from the town of Newtleld, was printed by 
.lames K. Remich, in pamphlet form, eighty pages, octavo. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 285 

The proceedings of the Brunswick Convention were received in 
the Massachusetts Senate at its winter session and were referred to 
the joint committee on separation, by which a very able report was 
made on the subject, concluding with the recommendation that 
resolves be adopted declaring "that the contingency upon which 
the consent of Massachusetts was to be given for separation of the 
District of Maine has not happened, and that the powers of the 
Brunswick Convention to take any measures tending to that event 
have ceased," and "that it is not expedient for the present General 
Court to adopt any further measures in regard to the separation." 
The report and resolves were adopted in both branches of the Leg- 
islature without debate or division. This summary disposal of the 
matter shows very conclusively that the method adopted by the 
majority of the Brunswick Convention to obtain the required five- 
ninths of its votes was regarded by the Legislature as unwarrant- 
able. It seems that no member spoke in its defense and that no 
one wished to have his vote recorded in approval of it. 

The advocates of separation, although defeated in the attempt 
to attain their object by a mathematical operation, were by no 
means disheartened or silenced; indeed, it was apparent that the 
cause was rapidly gaining strength and that the protracted contest 
would soon be brought to a close, and with a result satisfactory to 
those who had labored so zealously and persistently in its behalf. 
Massachusetts did not seriously object to the movement; many citi- 
zens who had, all along, believed the measure desirable, but who 
had, thus far, opposed it through the ballot box, influenced by the 
opinion that those who were urging it so strenuously were animated 
more by a desire for the honors and emoluments of office than by 
anxiety for the public good, and, also, by an unwillingness to be 
moved puppet-like as aids in carrying out the schemes of these 
manipulators of the affair, were getting tired of the excitement and 
were gradually falling into the ranks of its supporters ; the District 
was gaining in population and the newcomers, free from all bias or 
prejudice, naturally favored the measure. It was conceded on all 
hands that the question would again, in the near future, be sub- 
mitted to the people, and that then, by a very decided majority, it 
would be declared desirable that the connection with Massachusetts 
should be severed and that the District of Maine should be made 
an independent State. 

The subject was not permitted long to remain in quietude. As 
soon as the two branches of the Legislature of Massachusetts had 



'286 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

been organized in May, i8ig, petitions were presented from sixty- 
seven towns in the District of Maine asking for separation, which, 
with a few remonstrances against the measure, were referred to a 
joint committee. This committee, in the Senate, on the ninth day 
of June, made a report, accompanied with a bill relating to and pro- 
viding for separation, which were taken up for consideration a few 
days later, when Hon. Mr. Quincy opposed the bill "in an eloquent 
and animated speech of nearly two hours, and it was advocated by 
Mr. Saltonstall in a speech of equal eloquence." The bill was then 
passed to be engrossed. Yeas, twenty-six; nays, eleven. When 
the bill came up in the House an animated discussion ensued, after 
which it was ordered to be engrossed. Yeas, one hundred and 
ninety-three ; nays, fifty-nine. 

It was provided by this bill that the qualified voters in the 
District of Maine should assemble in their respective towns on the 
second Monday in July and give their votes on the question: "Is it 
expedient that the District of Maine shall become a separate and 
independent State.'" Returns of the votes thrown at these meet- 
ings were to be made at once to the governor and council, by whom 
they were to be counted. When counted the governor was required 
to make proclamation of the number thus returned for and against 
separation, and if it appeared that there was a majority of fifteen 
hundred in favor of the measure, "the people shall be considered 
to have declared their consent and agreement" to separation on the 
terms proposed in the bill ; in this event meetings were to be held 
in the several towns in the District to choose delegates to meet in 
convention in Portland, on the second Monday in October following, 
for the purpose of forming a constitution of government. After the 
meeting of the delegates in convention and the formation of a con- 
stitution thereby, the legal voters shall, in town meetings held on a 
day designated by the convention, accept or reject the instrument; 
if accepted it was to go into operation, "according to its own provis- 
ions," on the first day of January, 1820, the convention appointing a 
secretary//-^ tern for the new State, and the last chosen president of 
the convention, after the fifteenth of March (provided application 
shall have been made to Congress for its assent to the admission of 
said State into the Union and that said assent shall have been 
obtained before that date) shall have all the power of governor and 
council until a governor shall be duly chosen and qualified. 

The columns of the Visiter of the seventeenth of July contained 
several very able communications on the subject of separation, and 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 287 

the indications were that the opponents to the measure, although 
satisfied that they were in the minority, were determined not to 
yield without a full discussion of the merits and demerits of the 
proposed action. A meeting of citizens of the towns in York 
County lying southwest of Saco River was held at Alfred, on the 
fifteenth of July, at which some strong speeches were made by prom- 
inent men in opposition to separation, and an address and several 
resolutions were adopted. In one of the latter the following sen- 
tences occur : "Should it prove that the deliberate wishes of a 
large majority of Maine are in favor of separation, we feel warranted 
in the opinion that of the people of this county living southwest of 
Saco River a very great plurality would prefer to retain their pres- 
ent connection with Massachusetts, and that in the event of this 
right being denied them their next wish would be to be annexed to 
the State of New Hampshire." Citizens of Parsonsfield petitioned 
the Massachusetts Legislature that they might be set off from the 
District of Maine and become citizens of New Hampshire, and the 
town of Wells appointed a committee to petition the Legislature of 
New Hampshire "that Wells may be annexed to that State should 
the District of Maine be formed into a new State and Massachu- 
setts will not consent that the town of Wells may still be attached 
to her," We do not find that the committee performed the duty 
assigned them by this ridiculous vote. 

All these movements could not, however, stay the march of 
time. On the last Monday in July the legal voters in the District 
were called upon to express their views, through the ballot box, on 
this long-debated and absorbing question. The result showed that 
in nearly all the towns the opposition had greatly diminished, but 
that "old Wells " had nailed her flag to the mast and bated not a jot 
or tittle of her hostility to the measure and of her determination to 
maintain her integrity to the last. Wells gave four hundred and 
eight nays and forty-nine yeas. Arundel gave one hundred and 
nine nays and twenty-three yeas. In the District the majority for 
separation was about eleven thousand. 

The question of separation having now been settled affirma- 
tively, beyond all controversy, meetings were held throughout the 
District, on the twenty-sixth of July, for the choice of delegates to a 
convention to be held in Portland, on the eleventh of October, for 
the purpose of framing a constitution for the new State. In Wells 
Joseph Thomas, George W. Wallingford, Joseph Dane, Nahum 
Morrill and Samuel Curtis were chosen to represent the town in 



288 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

this convention. Only one delegate was elected in Arundel, Gen. 
Simon Nowell. 

The delegates met in convention and organized on the eleventh 
day of October and continued in session several days. Their pro- 
ceedings were harmonious and the constitution framed by them was 
generally acceptable to the members as well as to the people at large. 

The "style and title " of the new State was the subject of con- 
siderable discussion when it came before the convention. Judge 
Cony proposed that it should be called "Columbus" and advocated 
his motion in an ingenious and sensible speech. The proposition to 
strike out Maine and substitute Columbus was negatived by a 
decisive majority. Amotion to strike out "State" and substitute 
" Commonwealth " found more advocates, on the ground, chiefly, as 
expressed by one of the delegates, that it was more "sonorous and 
respectable" ; it was lost, however, the yeas being one hundred and 
one and the nays one hundred and forty. It was then determined 
that the style and title of the new State should be the "State of 
Maine." The sixth day of December was appointed for the holding 
of meetings throughout the District whereby the voters could express, 
by their ballots, their approval or disapproval of the work of the 
convention. The constitution was approved by an overwhelming 
majority. Wells gave one hundred and fifty-six yeas and one nay; 
Arundel, fifty yeas. The vote throughout the State was very small; 
the whole number returned was ten thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-nine, of which eight hundred and seventy-three were in the 
negative. 

The District of Maine in 1819 contained, as nearly as could be 
estimated, three hundred and fifty-one thousand and fifty-eight 
inhabitants. York County, the fourth in population, contained fifty 
thousand two hundred and ninety. There were nine counties in the 
District, viz. : York, Cumberland, Lincoln, Kennebec, Oxford, Som- 
erset, Hancock, Penobscot and Washington. 

A bill for the admission of the State of Maine into the Union, 
from and after the fifteenth day of March, 1820, "without restric- 
tion or incumbrance," passed both Houses of Congress and received 
the signature of the President prior to the fourth of March, 1820.^ 

1 The famous " Missouri Oompromise " was connected with the admission of 
Maine into the Union. The Visiter of April twenty-second contained an address 
to the people of Maine, by Marie Langdon Hill, in explanation and defense of his 
vote in favor of the measure, and the Visiter of the twenty-ninth of the same 
month contained a similar address from John Holmes. Messrs. Holmes and Hill 
were the only members of Congress, in either branch, who supported the measure. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 289 

Under the provisions of the constitution of Maine William 
King, the president of the convention for framing that instrument, 
was vested with the power of governor and council from and after 
the fifteenth of March "until a governor shall have been elected by 
the people and duly qualified," and Ashur Ware (elected by the 
convention) was Secretary of State pro fan. 

The first State election, for the choice of governor and members 
of the Legislature, v^as held on the third day of April. There was 
no organized opposition to the Republican (Democratic) nominees 
for governor and senators. Wells gave one hundred and sixty-eight 
votes for William King for governor and two scattering, and for 
senators, one hundred each for William Moody, of Saco, and Rufus 
Mclntire, of Parsonsfield, and ninety-eight for Josiah W. Seaver, of 
South Berwick, and sixteen scattering. Joseph Moody and Nahum 
Morrill were chosen to represent the town in the State Legislature, 
Arundel gave one hundred and nine votes for King and seventy- 
three each for Moody, Mclntire and Seaver. Simon Nowell was 
chosen town representative. 

The first Legislature of Maine assembled at the " State House," 
in Portland, on the thirty-first day of May. Both branches were 
organized by the election of the usual officers, the Republican nom- 
inees being chosen with great unanimity. "After the ceremony of 
organization was completed, the two branches, attended by the gov- 
ernor [King], proceeded in procession to the [First Parish] meeting- 
house, where an appropriate prayer was offered up by Rev. Mr. 
Nichols." 

The acrimony that existed between the advocates and oppo- 
nents of separation, in Wells and throughout York County, before 
the settlement of the question, appears to have been succeeded, 
immediately afterward, by an era of good feeling. The larger part 
of both parties evinced an earnest desire to "bury the hatchet." 
The Federalists, at the first State election, not only refrained from 
the nomination of candidates for governor and senators, but many 
of them threw their ballots for the Republican nominees, and, more- 
over, at the organization of the two branches of the Legislature and 
the election of State officers by that body, gave their support to the 
dominant party.^ On the other hand, the Republican members of 
the Legislature extended many courtesies to the Federal members, 

1 During the summer session (1820) John Chandler and John Holmes (for the 
short term) were elected United States Senators; during the second or winter 
session (1821) John Holmes was re-elected for six years from the fourth of March, 



290 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and the governor and council, in the distribution of county offices, 
were not unmindful of the just claims of the minority. The Feder- 
alists undoubtedly pursued a wise policy in thus abstaining from 
everything factious and in contributing, so far as in their power, to 
render the organization of the new government free from obstruc- 
tions and embarrassments. They were largely in the minority both 
in the county and State. There was a glamour about the new State 
and the condition of things it brought about that favorably impressed 
the majority of the people. These popular results had been attained 
through the efforts of the Republicans and, of course, their men and 
measures were in the ascendant, an ascendency which they held 
several years. 

Mr. Holmes, having been elected United States Senator, resigned 
his seat as representative from the York District in the sixteenth 
Congress, and an election to fill the vacancy thus occasioned was 
held on the sixth of November, 1820 (the day designated for the 
choice of members of the seventeenth Congress and electors of Pres- 
ident and Vice President). Joseph Dane, of this town, was elected 
to fill the vacancy above named and also to represent the York 
District in the seventeenth Congress. There appears to have been 
very little interest in the election. Alexander Rice, of Kittery, the 
Republican nominee, was quite unpopular in several of the towns 
because it was suspected that he would be under the influence of 
New Hampshire politicians. The whole number of votes thrown in 
the District, exclusive of Limerick, was seventeen hundred and 
eighty-four. Mr. Dane's majority over Rice was three hundred and 
three and over all candidates one hundred and fifty-six. There was 
a small majority for Mr. Dane in Limerick. 

Governor King, having been appointed by the President of the 
United States a member of the Board of Commissioners under the 
Spanish Treaty, resigned his office, in presence of the executive 
council, the twenty-seventh day of May, 182 1, whereupon William 
D. Williamson, president of the State Senate, took the usual oaths 
of office and assumed the duties of governor. Governor King, on 
retiring, made a short address to the council. " He spoke of the 
difficulties with which the discharge of his duty had been attended, 
of the many office seekers who had been disappointed in their expecta- 
tions and of the anxiety which had been produced by endeavoring 
to accomplish an equalization of office," etc. 

The people constituting the Second Parish in Wells, near the 
close of the eighteenth century, were yearly becoming more and more 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 291 

impressed with the idea that they were quite able "to go alone," 
and to transact their own business in their own way, and that it 
was not only for their interest, but it was strictly just, that the town 
of Wells should be divided and the Second Parish incorporated as a 
separate and independent town. In 1799 the subject was brought 
before the town, at its annual meeting in April, and the records 
inform us that "upon taking the sense of the town respecting a divis- 
ion of the same into two separate towns, there appeared a majority of 
votes against a separation anyway." The majority exhibited not a 
little craftiness as well as unfairness in voting, the same day, that 
"but one member be chosen to represent the town in General Court" 
(there had usually been two or more members elected), and then 
making choice of John Storer, a strong opposer of separation, "to 
represent the town in General Court the year ensuing." It could 
hardly be expected that the inhabitants of the Second Parish would 
submit quietly not only to a refusal to consider favorably the subject 
of separation, but to a deliberate act intended to deprive them of a 
fair representation in the General Court. They determined to bring 
the matter before the General Court by petition, whereupon a special 
town meeting was called for November fourth, 1799, at the instance 
of those opposed to the measure, by which it was voted to "send an 
agent to the General Court, at their next session, to show cause 
why the petition of the Second Parish in Wells respecting a separa- 
tion of said parish from said town should not be granted, and that 
John Storer [the representative elect] be an agent for that purpose." 
The petition of the Second Parish was not granted by the General 
Court; indeed, it does not appear that any strenuous efforts were 
made to secure a different result. No further movement in this 
direction was made until the year 18 14, when the town was again 
petitioned to give its assent to its division. In the fourteen years 
that had passed since the former effort to obtain a separation the 
Second Parish had increased in population from eight hundred to 
twenty-one hundred, and there had been a corresponding increase 
in buildings and in the various industries from which its prosperity 
had been derived. The First Parish had not kept pace, in these 
particulars, with the Second; it did not possess the natural advan- 
tages for business operations that were enjoyed by residents east of 
Little River. It was apparent that very few tangible reasons could 
now be urged against division, while there were many unanswerable 
arguments that could be urged in favor of the measure. Convinced 
that the request was both reasonable and just, the citizens of the 



292 HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 

First Parish resolved that they would no longer oppose the wishes 
of their neighbors, and when the petition came before the meeting 
its prayer was granted and a dividing line agreed upon. The vote, 
however, was reconsidered, at a subsequent meeting in the same 
year, by request of individuals in the Second Parish, "in order," as the 
records inform us, '-that the division of the town may be postponed." 

This remarkable action on the part of the inhabitants of the 
Second Parish was influenced, it is said, by fears regarding the 
expense that would attend the organization of a new town at a time 
when sound discretion would dictate strict economy in all their 
expenditures. The war was paralyzing their accustomed business 
activity; the addition of the direct tax — which had not been levied 
when their petition was presented — to their ordinary taxes and the 
disheartening outlook in every direction were all calculated to fill 
the minds of men with gloomy apprehensions. The cessation of 
hostilities and the declaration of peace, in 1815, revived the spirits 
of all classes of our citizens; but before fully recovering from the 
disastrous effects of the war there came the cold year, 1816, followed 
by the scarcity and high prices of the necessaries of life in 1817. 
The more encouraging business prospect in 18 18 was hardly suffi- 
cient to warrant the incurrence of expenses other than those that 
were unavoidable. 

For some cause, of which an explanation appears not now to 
be attainable, the two sections of the town were at variance in 18 19. 
At a town meeting held in May of that year it was voted "that two- 
thirds of the town meetings be held at the First Parish in Wells and 
one-third at Maryland meeting-house." In July, the same year, a 
town meeting was held at Rev. Mr. Eaton's meeting-house (Mary- 
land Ridge) at which "a committee was appointed to see where the 
town meetings shall be held in future." This committee reported, 
at a meeting held in September, that the "town meetings shall here- 
after be held, alternately, in the First and Second Parish," which re- 
port was adopted. Consequently it was not until 1820 that the inhab- 
itants of the Second Parish felt prepared to renew their application 
for division. This was done on the "petition of Daniel Sewall and 
others, namely, to see if the inhabitants of said town will agree to 
petition the Legislature of Maine, at the first session thereof, that 
the town of Wells may be so divided as to erect the parish called 
Kennebunk, or the Second Parish in Wells, into a town by the 
name of Kennebunk, with the usual corporate privileges of a town." 
At a town meeting held April third, 1820, this petition was consid- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 293 

ered and a committee appointed "to see where the divisional line 
shall be between the towns, and upon what terms and conditions 
the town shall be divided." On the first day of May, at an adjourned 
meeting, this committee made a report in reference to the divisional 
line, the conditions respecting^the accounts of the town, — debts, 
credits and assessments, — the support and relief of paupers, real 
estate owned by the town and town stock of military stores, all the 
details being defined with great minuteness. Every member of the 
committee agreed to the report and the town accepted it unani- 
mously. The town then voted unanimously to instruct its repre- 
sentatives to petition for and advocate a division of the town in the 
Legislature. In compliance with this vote a petition was presented 
as soon as the organization of the two branches of the first Legisla- 
ture of Maine had been completed. "An act to divide the town of 
Wells and incorporate the northeasterly part thereof as a town by 
the name of Kennebunk" was reported a few days subsequently^ 
which finally passed both houses and was sent to the governor for 
his approval prior to June 24, 1820, on which day it received his 
signature ; said act was to take effect from and after the thirty-first 
day of July, 1820.^ 

The first section of this act defines the boundaries of the new 
town; the second section relates to the liabilities of the inhabit- 
ants of Kennebunk for arrears of taxes, for assessments that have 
been voted by the town and for debts due therefrom, and to the 
liabilities of Wells to the inhabitants of Kennebunk for their pro- 
portion of the assessments voted by and taxes and debts due to said 
town of Wells at the time of division, and also in reference to the 
personal property belonging thereto; the third section relates to 
paupers ; the fourth, to the division of real estate and military stores 
belonging to Wells; the fifth we give in full: — 

"Sections. Be it further ejiacted. That the privileges of obtain- 
ing clams, seaweed and rockweed from the beaches and flats in said 

'The town of Arundel, in 1812, petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts 
to change its name to Kennebunk. The town of Wells remonstrated against the 
proposed alteration, and the reasons assigned by the remonstrants for their oppo- 
sition to the change were regarded by the General Court as both reasonable and 
just. The petition of Arundel was consequently unsuccessful. The selectmen of 
Arundel, acting under a vote of the town, petitioned the Legislature of Maine, 
early in its flrst session, that it might take the name of Kennebunk. The peti- 
tion of the representatives of the town of Wells that the Second Parish in said 
town might be allowed to take that name had already been presented and a bill 
reported in accordance with its request. Robert Towne and others then sent In 
a petition that the town of Arundel might be permitted to take the name of 
Kennebunkport, which request was granted at the second session of the Legisla- 
ture, and an act authorizing the change was approved by the governor February 
19, 1821. 



294 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

town, which the inhabitants have been accustomed to use from time 
immemorial, shall continue in common as heretofore." 

Section six defines the method of calling the first meeting of 
the inhabitants of Kennebunk for the choice of town officers, etc., 
and the seventh and last section directs at what time the act shall 
take effect. 

The first town meeting in the new town of Kennebunk was 
held in the meeting-house of the " First Congregational Parish," on 
Monday, August fourteenth, 1820, for the election of town officers 
and the transaction of other town business. The officers chosen 
were: Timothy Frost, Town Clerk; Timothy Frost, James Dor- 
rance and Benjamin Titcomb, Jr., Selectmen, Assessors and Over- 
seers of the Poor ; Joseph Moody, Town Treasurer. 

Kennebunk contained in 1820 two thousand one hundred and 
forty-five inhabitants, four hundred and eighty-three polls, and its 
valuation was two hundred and thirty-five thousand and twenty-three 
dollars and forty cents.' 

Commerce of Kennebunk in 1820: Number of clearances at the 
custom house for foreign ports, seventy-one; number of entries from 
foreign ports, fifty-seven ; number of coastwise clearances, fifty- 
three ; number of coastwise entries, forty-eight. 

The second or annual town meeting was held on the first Mon- 
day in April, 1821. Joseph Hatch, Nathaniel Jefferds and Jeremiah 
Lord were chosen Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor; 
Samuel Ross, Constable and Collector of Taxes. All the other town 
officers chosen at the first meeting, held in August of the preceding 
year, were re-elected. 

Amount of Town, County and State Taxes committed by the 
Assessors to the Collector for 182 i, one thousand nine hundred and 
forty-four dollars and seventy-two cents. 

Following is a list of officers that have served the town in the 
capacity of clerk and treasurer from 1820 to 1890. 

Timothy Frost was appointed the first town clerk and held the 
office from 1820 to 1832. He was again elected to office in 1835 
and held it continuously until 1844, making his whole term of ser- 
vice in this capacity twenty-one years. 

> Wells contained 2,060 Inhabitants, 576 polls and its valuation was $170,l»2().i«). 
The population of Arundel was 2,478; number of polls, 500; valuation, $a24,122..T(). 
Population of the twenty-three towns then constituting York County. 46.284. In 
1810 the population of these towns was 41.877. Increase in ten years. 4,407. Popu- 
lation of the nine counties into which the State was then divided, 228,705 against 
2«7,8:» in 1820, showing an increase in ten years of 6!',I.'54. 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 295 

John Lillie held the office two years, 1832 to 1834. 

John Frost, one year, 1834 to 1835. 

Andrew Walker, from 1844 to 1856, twelve years. 

George W. Wallingford, from 1856 to 1861, five years. 

George Mendum, one year, 1861 to 1862. 

Edmund Warren, from 1862 to 1864 and from 1865 to 1869, 
six years. 

William Fairfield, one year, 1864 to 1865. 

A. Warren Mendum from i86g to 1873 and from 1874 to 1884. 

Mark H. Ford, one year, 1873 to 1874. 

Walter L. Dane, five years, from 1884 to 1889. 

A. Warren Mendum was again elected in 1889, continuing in 
office at the present date, 1890. 

Joseph Moody was the first town treasurer and held the office 
eleven years, from 1820 to 1831. 

Daniel Sewall, seven years, from 183 1 to 1838. 

William M. Bryant, two years, 1838 to 1840. 

Enoch Hardy, eight years, 1840 to 1848. 

Andrew Walker, fourteen years, 1848 to 1861 and for the year 
1866. 

George Mendum, one year, 1861 to 1862. 

Edward W. Morton, three years, 1862 to 1865. 

Daniel Remich, twenty years, 1865 (elected in 1866, but de- 
clined) and 1867 to 1886. 

Edward W. Morton was again elected in 1886, still continuing 
in office, 1890. 



CHAPTER II. 

POLITICAL, 182 1 to 1840. 

The political campaign preceding the State election in 182 1 
was a very exciting one. The Republican party was divided, one 
section supporting Albion K. Paris for governor and the other sec- 
tion warmly espousing the cause of Joshua Wingate, Jr., who was 
also a candidate for that office. The Federalists supported Ezekiel 
Whitman, but without any expectation of his success. The Gazette, 
at that time, was an impartial paper, and its columns, for several 
weeks before election day, were crowded with communications advo- 
cating the support of the favorites of the respective correspondents. 
Many of these communications were from leading men of the times, 
of all parties, in the State. The Statesman, printed at Portland and 
edited by Doctor Low, was started, it was said, especially in aid of 
Wingate; the ^r^?/ J supported Paris. One Harry Hance, a crank, 
who represented, as he declared, a powerful organization known as 
the "Funguntum Society," was a frequent visitor, in those days, 
to the several towns in York County. He was a '' Statesman man" 
to the core, and his open-air declamations, lauding Wingate and 
denouncing Paris, were listened to with great delight by the crowds 
that were sure to gather whenever the sound of his voice, with its 
peculiar nasal twang, was heard on the street. His harangues 
afforded unbounded amusement to the bystanders, irrespective of 
party or age. He was witty at times and some of his "hits" were 
not only really humorous, but deeply laden with homely and cutting 
truths ; on the whole, however, his utterances were not calculated to 
leave very strong or very favorable impressions on the minds of his 
auditors. The election came off on the tenth of September, when 
York County gave Paris one thousand four hundred and fifteen 
votes ; Wingate, nine hundred and thirty-one ; Whitman, seven hun- 
dred and seventy-four. Paris was elected by a majority exceeding 
sixteen hundred. Kennebunk gave Whitman ninety-six votes: 
Paris, thirty-three; Wingate, six. 

Contemporaneous with Hance was another crank, named 
Hanscomb, from Kittery, who made a semi-annual tour to the sea- 
board towns of York County for the purpose of selling "baiths" 

296 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 297 

(government, State and county offices). For the promise of a stip- 
ulated sum he would agree to confer upon the promisor a post office 
or coUectorship or any desirable position in the public service. He 
afforded much merriment to the little groups of men and boys who 
were prompt to gather when he appeared on the main street of our 
village, and with his peculiar tone and lisp invited proposals for his 
unique merchandise. Later, still another crank, "old Snow," was 
often seen on our streets, invariably with a small birch pail and on 
a "half-toot." Many listened with great pleasure to his odd say- 
ings, but he fell far behind those above named in wit and comicality. 
An election for the choice of a representative to Congress for 
the York District, held on the seventh day of April, 1823, resulted in 
no choice. Edward P. Hayman, of South Berwick, was the Federal 
candidate (Mr. Dane having declined a renomination). William 
Burleigh, of South Berwick, was supported by a small portion of the 
Republican party, but a large majority of the votes he received were 
thrown by those who had previously been members of the Federal 
party. Isaac Lane, of Hollis, Thomas G. Thornton, of Saco, and 
Rufus Mclntire, of Parsonsfield, were the Republican candidates. 
The vote of Kennebunk was : Hayman, nineteen ; Burleigh, one 
hundred and two; Lane, forty-five; Thornton, six. The election 
was preceded by a spirited and somewhat acrimonious canvass. 
The thirtieth day of the following June was appointed for a second 
trial. Doctor Thornton declined being considered a candidate. Mr. 
Hayman's name was withdrawn. We presume his nomination, at 
the preceding trial, was the last made by the Federalists in York 
County. For a while thereafter they united with those Republicans 
(the supporters of Burleigh) who had severed their connection with 
the "straight outs" and rallied under the title of the "People's 
Party." In this town Burleigh received fifty-one votes ; Lane, seven ; 
Mclntire, twenty ; scattering, one. In the county Burleigh received 
nine hundred and eighty-four votes; Lane, eight hundred and 
eleven ; Mclntire, four hundred and seventy-five ; scattering, fifty- 
five. No choice. A third trial was appointed to be held on the 
day of the annual State election, September fifth. Colonel Lane 
withdrew his name from the list of candidates. In Kennebunk 
Burleigh received two hundred and fifty votes; Mclntire, forty-two. 
In Kennebunkport, Burleigh, fifty-four; Mclntire, eighty-five. In 
Wells, Burleigh, sixty-two; Mclntire, one hundred and twenty-six; 
scattering, twelve. All the toM'ns in the county gave Burleigh two 
thousand and ninety-eight ; Mclntire, one thousand eight hundred 



298 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and thirty-two ; scattering, four hundred and eight. No choice. At 
the fourth trial, November third, Burleigh received two thousand 
and eighty-eight votes in all the towns in the county; Mclntire, 
nineteen hundred and four, and there were ninety-two scattering. 
Majority for Burleigh, ninety-two. Kennebunk gave Burleigh one 
hundred and ninety-five votes; Mclntire, fifty-two. Kennebunk- 
port, Burleigh, thirty-nine ; Mclntire, eighty-nine. Wells, Burleigh, 
twenty-four; Mclntire, one hundred and two. 

William Burleigh was re-elected member of Congress from 
York District in September, 1824, by a large majority. 

At the election of presidential electors in York District on the 
first Monday in November, 1824, the Adams ticket received fifteen 
hundred and thirty-four votes and the Crawford ticket four hundred 
and thirty-eight. In this town Adams received two hundred and 
thirty-five; Crawford, eight. In Kennebunkport, Adams, one hun- 
dred and two; Crawford, none. Wells, Adams, seventy-three; 
Crawford, none. 

The annual State election for 1825 occurred September twelfth, 
but it was attended with very little excitement. Kennebunk gave 
two hundred and seventy-eight Whig votes and seven Democratic. 
Mr. Dane declined a re-election as representative to the State Leg- 
islature and Edward E. Bourne was elected to that office. 

At the annual State election in September, 1826, William Bur- 
leigh was re-elected member of Congress. The Republican candi- 
dates for county senators were chosen by a small majority. Kenne- 
bunk gave three hundred and sixty-six for Prime, Scamman and 
Elden, " State ticket," and eighteen for Dennett, Swett and Emery, 
"opposition." For register of deeds, John Skeele, two hundred 
and four; Timothy Frost, one hundred and forty; Joshua Roberts, 
two; Jeremiah Goodwin, twenty-five. Mr. Goodwin, who was then 
the incumbent of the office, was re-elected. 

At the State election in September, 1827, the votes for member 
of Congress to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Bur- 
leigh in the First Congressional District were: For Rufus Mclntire 
(Republican), twenty-one hundred and seventj'-four ; for John 
Holmes (Independent), nineteen hundred and thirty-two; scatter- 
ing, one hundred and fifty-three. In this town Mclntire received 
forty-six votes. Holmes one hundred and ninety-four and there were 
nine scattering. In Wells, Mclntire, thirty-nine ; Holmes, two hun- 
dred and nine. In Kennebunkport, Mclntire, thirteen; Holmes, 
two hundred and eighteen. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 299 

The administration or Adams party was badly beaten in York 
County at the State election in 1827. For senators the highest vote 
for<a Republican candidate was twenty-two hundred and eighty- 
three, while the highest on the Adams ticket was only sixteen hun- 
dred and sixty. A brisk campaign preceded the State election in 
1828, which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Adams 
party, the highest vote on their senatorial ticket being four thousand 
and twenty-five, while the highest on the Republican ticket was 
only two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven. Kennebunk gave 
the former three hundred and five, the latter seventy votes. Wells 
was the banner administration town, giving three hundred and 
forty-five votes for that party against sixty-two for the Republicans ; 
in Kennebunkport the Adams ticket received two hundred and one 
votes and the Republican one hundred and eighteen. The admin- 
istration party did not nominate a candidate for member of Con- 
gress, its votes being recorded under the head of "scattering." 
In Kennebunk, Gen. Simon Nowell (Adams), one hundred and 
eighty-two votes; Mclntire (Republican), sixty-two, and there were 
nine for other persons. In the District Mclntire received twenty- 
nine hundred and eighty-one votes; all others, fifteen hundred and 
thirty-four. There was no opposition to the re-election of Lincoln 
as governor. 

At the election for the choice of electors of President and Vice 
President, in November of the same year, the vote of Kennebunk 
stood: Adams, two hundred and fifteen; Jackson, fifty-seven. 
Wells for Adams, two hundred and seventy-seven ; Jackson, nine- 
teen. Kennebunkport, Adams, one hundred and thirty; Jackson, 
fifty-six. In York District, Adams, three thousand and nineteen; 
Jackson, eighteen hundred and fourteen. In the State, Adams, 
twenty thousand seven hundred and seventy-three ; Jackson, thir- 
teen thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven ; scattering, ninety- 
four. All the Districts in the State gave majorities for the Adams 
elector except Cumberland; in this the Jackson candidate was 
successful. 

The annual State election in 1829 resulted in the choice of 
Jonathan G. Hunton for governor, and in the choice by the people 
of eight National Republican and eight Jacksonmen for State sen- 
ators. Seventy-eight National Republicans and sixty-six Jackson- 
men were elected representatives to the State Legislature. The 
national administration having changed rulers, the supporters of the 
Adams administration took the title of National Republicans, and 



300 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



the party hitherto known as Republicans was termed Jacksonmen, 
a title which was not unacceptable to them. We believe they there- 
after and to the present time have styled themselves the Demo- 
cratic party. 

At the election in 1829 York County gave three thousand five 
hundred and thirty votes (highest) for the National Republican can- 
didates for State senators, and the Jackson candidates raised three 
thousand five hundred and twenty-six (highest). The Jackson can" 
didate for governor (Smith) received a majority of fifty votes. Par- 
ties in Kennebunk and the neighboring towns stood as follows 
Kennebunk, two hundred and nineteen Republican, seventy-four 
Jacksonmen ; Wells, three hundred and fourteen Republican, sixty- 
eight Jacksonmen; Kennebunkport, one hundred and forty-one 
Republican and one hundred and fifty Jacksonmen. The remarka- 
ble contest that attended the organization of the Senate of 1830 is 
among the most interesting events in the legislatorial records of 
Maine. 

The fifty-fourth anniversary of American independence was 
celebrated by the National Republicans of York County, at Kenne- 
bunk, in a manner appropriate and spirited. A national salute of 
twenty-four guns, the ringing of the bell and the display of "star- 
spangled banners" and elegant streamers in different parts of the 
village greeted the rising sun, A large concourse of people, from 
various parts of the county, crowded the streets of the village at an 
early hour in the morning. At eleven o'clock a procession was 
formed at Towle's Hotel, which, preceded by a fine band of music, 
marched to the First Parish meeting-house, where a programme was 
carried out. Prayer by Rev. Mr. Heath (Methodist) ; original 
hymn; reading of the Declaration of Independence, by Hon. Charles 
Cutts; an extemporaneous discourse of nearly two hours' duration, 
by Hon. John Holmes, in which he reviewed the measures and pol- 
icy of the national administration; an original ode; benediction by 
Rev. Mr. Heath; all of which was listened to by a large audience 
with the utmost satisfaction. The procession re-formed at close of 
exercises in the church and returned to the hotel, where a large 
number partook of a sumptuous dinner that had been provided for 
them. As no wine or other spirit had been provided for this occa- 
sion, there were no regular toasts. Many excellent voluntaries were 
given, with no other accompaniment than cold water. Not less than 
two thousand strangers were in town to witness or participate in the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 301 

ceremonies of the day; the procession numbered over seven hun- 
dred. On the committee of arrangements were Joseph Storer 
(chairman) and Charles Cutts; among the guests were Judge 
Greene, of South Berwick, and General Storer, of Portsmouth, N. 
H., all up to this time prominent members of the Democratic party, 
and among those who marched in the procession were many gentle- 
men who had been less active but well-known adherents to that 
party. We' mention this to show that it was a period of political 
changes. Very many of the old Republican party stood side by 
side and worked with the old Federalists, and as many, or more, of 
the old Federalists took their places in the ranks of the old Repub- 
licans. As Mr. Holmes facetiously remarked, " Politicians went to 
bed at night in company with long-cherished party friends, but woke 
up in the morning to find that they had strange bedfellows."' 

An election of State ofiicers and members of Congress occurred 
in Maine on the eleventh of September, 1830, The Jackson party 
carried the county of York as well as the State. Kennebunk gave 
two hundred and sixty-five National Republican votes and seventy- 
four for the Jackson candidates, Kennebunkport five majority for 
the Jackson ticket, and Wells two hundred and forty majority fur 
the National Republican nominees. 

The State election in September, 183 1, notwithstanding the 
heated canvass which preceded it, does not appear to have been 
attended with even the usual excitement. The Jacksonians lost 
about five hundred votes and the National Republicans a larger 
number, in comparison with the returns of votes thrown with the 
returns of the election of 1830. The Jackson tickets prevailed by 
about one thousand majority in this county and generally through- 
out the State. 

A meeting of National Republican young men of York County 
was held at Frost's Hotel, in Kennebunk, April second, 1832, for 
the choice of delegates to represent the young men of this county in 
the national convention to be held in Washington, D. C, May 
seventh. It was largely attended. George Wheelwright, of Ken- 
nebunkport, was Chairman and Daniel T. Granger, of Saco, Secre- 
tary, Appropriate resolutions were adopted. Daniel W, Lord, of 
Kennebunkport, Rufus Nichols, of Saco, John A. Burleigh, of South 
Berwick, Samuel Bradley, of Buxton, Calvin R. Hubbard, of Shap- 
leigh, and Daniel Remich, of Kennebunk, were chosen delegates. 



30'i HISTORY OK KENNKRUNK. 

The Whigs of York County, and indeed throughout the State, 
were much elated with their success in 1837, which it appears was 
unexpected, in electing their candidate for governor (Kent), a good 
majority of the members of the house of representatives and ten of 
the twenty-five State senators, giving them a majority in joint ballot 
of the two branches of the Legislature. In this town the event was 
celebrated on the twenty-sixth of September by four national salutes, 
bv the display of star-spangled banners from several eminences in the 
village, ringing of bells and the discharge of cannon. At half-past 
seven in the afternoon an excellent collation was served at Hilton's. 
About one hundred and sixty men sat down to the tables, after 
which remarks were made by several gentlemen, and a patriotic song 
was sung by Mr. B. F. Barker, of Kennebunkport. 

A convention of Whig young men of the county of York assem- 
bled at Alfred February twelfth, 1840, which was largely attended. 
Daniel W. Lord, of Kennebunkport, President; Dr. Edwin Hall, of 
Alfred, Vice President; L H. Hersey, of Saco, Secretary. A series 
of resolutions, presented by Daniel Remich from the committee 
appointed to draft resolutions, were advocated by Daniel Goodenow, 
of Alfred, and Samuel Bradley, Esq., of Hollis; they were unani- 
mously adopted. Daniel Remich, of Kennebunk, was chosen dele- 
gate to the National Convention of Whig Young Men, to be held in 
Baltimore. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

" Resolved, That there be a Whig county celebration of the ap- 
proaching anniversary of our national independence at Kennebunk." 

'' Resolved, That a committee of five be now appointed to make 
the necessary arrangements for carrying the foregoing resolution 
into effect." 

The following gentlemen were elected the committee : Daniel 
Remich, Thomas Lord, William Lord, Benjamin Smith, Samuel 
Mitchell. The convention then adjourned, to he held July fourth at 
Kennebunk. 

The county convention, pursuant to its adjournment, as above 
stated, met at Kennebunk on the morning of July fourth. The 
usual committees were appointed, resolutions were reported and 
adopted, and nominations of county officers were made. Daniel 
Goodenow, of Alfred, was nominated as a candidate for representa- 
tive to Congress from York District, and Charles Trafton, of South 
Berwick, for district elector of President and Vice President. Nathan 
D. Appleton, of Alfred, was President of the convention ; Increase 
G. Kimball, of Lebanon, and Caleb S. Emery, of Sanford, Secretaries. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 303 

In accordance with previous arrangements, a county celebration 
by the Whigs of York County was held at Kennebunk on the same 
day. Party feeling ran high, the movement was a popular one 
throughout the county, and large delegations were present from 
every town within its borders. The committee of arrangements had 
made ample preparations for the occasion : the weather during the 
day was all that could be desired. " For numbers, for pageantry, 
for interesting incidents, for patriotic and spirit-stirring eloquence, 
for harmony and for enthusiasm, the annals of our ancient and 
respectable county furnish no precedent." It was unquestionably 
the largest political gathering ever before witnessed in Maine. At 
the lowest estimate, five thousand persons from other towns were 
in the village during the day, quite a number of them from Cumber- 
land County, from Portsmouth and border towns in New Hampshire. 
It was a proud day for Kennebunk. The Whigs were in buoyant 
spirits; the kindly feelings that were maintained throughout the day 
between themselves and their neighbors who were political oppo- 
nents was a marked and exceedingly pleasant event of the day. 
Many Democrats, who had watched the proceedings from com- 
mencement to close, expressed themselves as much gratified with all 
the exercises, withholding, of course, their approval from the animus 
of the celebration. Courtesies were exchanged. Not a few of the 
Democrats accepted invitations to partake of the viands on the din- 
ner tables, and expressed the wish that the success of the Whigs at 
the polls might not equal that which had attended the committee of 
arrangements in providing the excellent and bountiful feast of good 
things that was set before them. 

At sunrise bells in the village were rung and a national salute 
was fired; national flags floated from the liberty pole (then recently 
erected near where the "centennial tree" now stands) and from 
standards that had been planted on several eminences in the village. 
Across Main Street, from the brick block which formerly stood on 
the bank lot to the tall trees opposite, a large flag and three neat 
and appropriate banners were suspended, all with suitable inscrip- 
tions. 

Between seven and eight o'clock in the morning the "Tippeca- 
noe Volunteers," composed of young men belonging to this town, 
assembled to the number of forty, on horseback, dressed in a neat 
uniform, — dark coats, light pantaloons, red sashes and blue scarfs, 
at one end of which our country's emblem, the Eagle, and at the 
other the Arms of the State were printed, together with the words 



304 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

"Tippecanoe Volunteers" in the center. They bore a beautiful 
white silk banner, fringed with blue and suitably inscribed, which 
was presented to them by young ladies of the village. This com- 
pany was commanded by Col. Joshua Wakefield and had been 
organized for escort duty. 

Delegations and spectators, from different parts of the county, 
began to pour into the village between eight and nine o'clock, on 
foot, on horseback, in vehicles of every description, by hundreds, 
and an hour later by thousands. The several delegations, on 
approaching the village, were met by the Limerick Artillery — with 
full ranks and in full uniform — and the Tippecanoe Volunteers, 
when they were escorted to places designated for them in the 
"orders of the day." The Limerick Artillery made a fine appear- 
ance, receiving numerous encomiums from the thousands who wit- 
nessed their manly deportment and the superiority of their evolutions. 

First came the Saco, Biddeford, Buxton and Hollis delegations, 
preceded by the Saco Band, twenty-five in number, in uniform, with 
brass instruments, in a large carriage, with appropriate mottoes on 
its sides, drawn by four white horses. Accompanying the Saco del- 
egation was a company of about forty boys, uniformly dressed, bear- 
ing banners. Their orderly deportment and fine appearance in 
every respect drew from the crowds "enthusiastic cheers at every 
corner." These delegations were followed by others, in rapid suc- 
cession, until large representations from every town in the county 
were on the ground. The Lyman delegation was preceded by a 
veritable log cabin, placed on wheels, drawn by eight horses and 
conducted by six men in uniform. Within the cabin were several 
musicians, together with a few delegates, one of whom was enjoying 
his pipe; over its roof floated our national flag; in the rear was a 
large swivel, which was discharged frequently during the day, at 
proper times and places. A gentleman who had been present at 
nearly all the immense gatherings at the South and West during the 
campaign, pronounced it a chef-d'mn^re of log-cabin architecture, and 
stated that in no one of the many processions he had witnessed had 
he seen so perfect a facsimile of the simple dwellings of our early 
settlers as was this. It was greeted with reiterated cheers as it 
passed along by the immense multitude that thronged our streets. 
The Lyman log cabin was an object of general attraction throughout 
the day. The Kennebunk delegation was preceded by the Great 
Falls Band, fourteen in number, in handsome uniform. The New- 
field delegation bore a banner made of ash bark, with mottoes on 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 305 

one side and a poem adapted to the occasion on the reverse. 
Nearly all the delegations bore handsome banners with appropriate 
inscriptions. 

The procession was formed at eleven a. m., four deep, under 
the direction of Capt. Henry Kingsbury, chief marshal, assisted by 
four aids on horseback (Charles Murch, Porter Hall, Adam McCul- 
loch and Levi P. Hillard) and four on foot (William Lord, Jr., Ivory 
Lord, Tobias Walker and Heber Gowen). The escort consisted of 
the Artillery and Volunteers and the Saco Band. Then came the 
committee of arrangements, the orator of the day and chaplains, 
invited guests, officers of the day and of the county convention, 
followed by soldiers of the Revolution in carriages. First, a car- 
riage from Saco, in which was the last survivor of the party which 
destro}'ed the tea in Boston Harbor in December, 1773, together with 
other Revolutionary heroes, with a banner on which was inscribed : 
"Soldiers of the Revolution." "Benjamin Simpson, the last of the 
Tea Party, Boston, December 16, 1773." Next came a barouche 
in which were four other patriots of the Revolution, among whom 
was Captain Seaward, of Portsmouth, N. H., whose years then num- 
bered more than fourscore, and who was one of the crew of the Bon 
Homme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, during the most 
daring and sanguinary actions in which that intrepid commander 
was engaged. On this barouche was a banner representing the old 
flag of thirteen stars, etc., and inscribed: "Beneath thy folds we 
fought and conquered." "Young men guard it with jealous care." 
" Be it ever the cherished banner of the brave and the free." A few 
of the soldiers of the War of 18 12 followed the Revolutionary 
heroes. Then came delegations from the several towns in alpha- 
betical order. (This was a mistake on the part of the committee of 
arrangements which they did not discover until it was too late to 
rectify it. 'J'he delegations should have had places in the order of 
the dates of the incorporation of their respective towns.) Following 
these were visitors from adjoining counties and from New Hampshire- 

The procession marched through several streets to the platform 
which had been erected for public exercises of the day. This was on 
the lot near the present homestead of N. N. Wiggin. This platform 
was twelve feet square and raised four feet from the ground, was 
carpeted, furnished with table and chairs, protected from rain or sun- 
shine by canvas resting on frame work, and was tastefully decorated 
with evergreens. In front of the table were seats for soldiers of the 
Revolution and of the War of 181 2. This assemblage was called to 



30G HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

order by the chairman of the committee of arrangements. A fervent 
and appropriate prayer was ofifered by Rev. Oliver Barron (of the 
Baptist denomination), of Wells. The " Marseilles Hymn " was then 
sung, with spirit and elegance, by Israel Kimball, of Elliott, accom- 
panied on the chorus by members of the Saco Band, after which 
Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth, N. H., commenced an address 
which occupied an hour in the delivery. It was a production of un- 
common merit and was listened to by the vast auditory with rapt 
attention; the orator was several times interrupted by plaudits of 
the multitude, and at the conclusion of the address Mr. Bartlett sat 
down amid deafening shouts of the audience in testimony of their 
gratification and approval. The song, by Deering, of Portland, 
"The hour is coming and the man," was then sung by Mr. Kimball, 
accompanied as before, for whom three hearty cheers were given. 
This concluded the exercises on the platform. 

The procession re-formed, in the same order as in the morning, 
and marched through Main Street to the dinner pavilion, which was 
erected on a level spot known to generations which have passed 
along as " Storer's Pasture," and by those later on the stage of action 
as the "Factory Pasture," opposite the leather board manufactory. 
It was one hundred and fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide ; 
the outside was built post and board fence fashion and was covered 
with canvas, a very comfortable although a somewhat primitive look- 
ing structure. Inside were six tables, each one hundred and forty- 
four feet in length, and three about ten feet shorter each, to afl;ord 
space for elevated seats for the bands. The tables were abundantly 
supplied with provisions, and although more than two thousand per- 
sons sat down to them, partook of the viands and were fully satis- 
fied, it was estimated that the "fragments" left were amply suflicient 
for a dinner for two hundred persons. Cold water and hop beer 
were the only beverages furnished. An idea may be formed as to 
the quantity of wares required to set these tables by the fact that, 
on clearing them, the knives and forks alone measured almost seven 
bushels. 

Immediately after dinner the county convention was called to 
order by Mr. Appleton, the business before which occupied about 
forty minutes. When it had adjourned, the president of the county 
celebration (Mr. Dane) addressed the assembly briefly, but perti- 
nently, and concluded by introducing Erastus Brooks, editor of the 
Portland Advertiser, who had just returned from Washington. Mr. 
Brooks spoke for an hour, during which time he was listened to with 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 307 

the strictest attention and with no ordinary degree of satisfaction. 
It was a noble effort, and the thousands who composed his audience 
manifested their approval of his utterances by repeated cheers. 
Daniel Goodenow, of Alfred, followed. His remarks were brief, 
but able and eloquent. 

A resolution, tendering to the orator of the day the thanks of 
the assembly for his sound exposition of Republican principles and 
able defense of popular rights, was adopted by acclamation. Mr, 
Bartlett responded briefly, but felicitously. 

The company, after giving -'three times three and one to carry" 
for Harrison and Tyler, separated in excellent spirits. "The cere- 
monies of the day were concluded at about five o'clock in the after- 
noon, and when the sunset guns were fired the vast concourse of 
people who had participated in them, with few exceptions, had left 
the village for their homes; our streets presented no unusual bustle; 
no accident or unpleasant incident had occurred to cause regret or 
to render the recollections of the day other than pleasant. The 
county celebration of the Fourth of July, 1840, will long be remem- 
bered as one worthy of the occasion and conducted in a manner 
befitting intelligent freemen." 

Considerable space has been given to the account of this cele- 
bration (which is merely an abridgment of that originally published) 
as it was in reality a "great day for Kennebunk," unapproached by 
any celebration or public gathering ever v/itnessed in this town 
before or since the Fourth of July, 1840. It is fair to presume, 
therefore, that it will be read with deep interest by the present and 
future citizens of this locality. 

The State election, September, 1840, was hardly contested; 
both parties "did their best." The State was carried by the Whigs, 
they electing governor, majority of senators and majority of repre- 
sentatives. York County remained Democratic, with a majority less 
by about three hundred and fifty than in 1839. 

A county meeting of Whigs and others opposed to the policy of 
the national administration was held in Alfred, October fifth, 1840. 
It was called to order by Dr. Samuel Emerson, of Kennebunk, and 
organized by the choice of Capt. Daniel Nason, of Kennebunkport, 
Chairman ; Daniel Remich, of Kennebunk, and Dimon Roberts, of 
Lyman, Secretaries. Prayer was made by Rev, Mr. Marsh (formerly 
of Sanford) and speeches were made by Daniel Goodenow, of 
Alfred, and General Appleton, of Portland, Resolutions were 
adopted. The meeting was well attended and enthusiastic. 



308 HISTORY OF KENXEBUNK. 

Gen. James Wilson, of Keene, N. H., a gentleman distinguished 
for his talents and as an eloquent and effective orator, addressed 
the people of Kennebunk "on the prominent political topics of the 
day," at the Town Hall, on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh of 
October, 1840. He spoke nearly three and one-half hours to a 
large audience, composed of the Whigs of Kennebunk and neigh- 
boring towns and other citizens, who exhibited no signs of weari- 
ness, but, on the contrary, listened to the address throughout with 
undivided attention and deep interest. 

The election in Maine for the choice of electors of President 
and Vice President resulted in the success of the "Harrison ticket'' 
by a majority of four hundred and twenty-two votes. In York 
County there was a Whig gain of about sixty-five, compared with 
the vote at the State election in September of the same year. In 
Kennebunk the Harrison electors received two hundred and fifty- 
one votes, the Van Buren electors one hundred and ninety-eight; at 
the September election Kent, for governor, received two hundred 
and thirty-one votes and Fairfield one hundred and ninety-two. 
York County was the great battle ground during this Presidential 
contest. If the Democrats could gain a few hundreds, compared 
with the September election, the State would go for Van Buren ; if 
the Whigs could "hold their own," it was safe to count upon it for 
Harrison. 



CHAPTER III. 

ECCLESIASTICAL. 

The following facts relating to the early history — from 1750 to 
1821 — of the Second Parish in Wells, as styled before the division 
of the town in 1820, and after that date until the present time bear- 
ing the title of the " First Congregational Parish in Kennebunk." 
are condensed from the chapters in Bourne's History devoted to 
this subject. Although nearly all these particulars, obtained from 
the town records, newspapers, etc., are noticed in the preceding 
pages, we think it desirable, even at the risk of repetition, to insert 
this synopsis of Mr. Bourne's copious details, inasmuch as these 
were derived from the parish records, and in order that our account 
of its beginning and progress may be full and continuous. We add 
several interesting facts. 

In 1750 the town of Wells voted to set off the inhabitants living 
between the Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers as a distinct parish. 
On the fourteenth day of June in that year the parish was incor- 
porated by the Massachusetts Legislature; it was duly organized in 
August following by the choice of the customary officers and the 
adoption of such votes as circumstances required, and a call was 
extended to Rev. Daniel Little to become its pastor, which he 
accepted January 31, 175 1, A church was consecrated March four- 
teenth of that same year, consisting of twenty-one male members, to 
which were added, on the first Sunday in June, eighteen females. 
Mr. Little's ordination took place on the twenty-seventh day of 
March. ^ Prior to the incorporation of the parish a meeting-house 
had been erected (in 1749) and so far completed that religious ser- 
vices were held within its walls in the winter of 1749-50. It stood 
on the site of the dwelling-house now owned and occupied by Charles 
F. Tarbox; it was a rough structure of two stories, thirty feet in 
length. The increase of population at Storer's Mills on the Mousam, 
at Littlefield's Mills on the Kennebunk, and especially at Alewive, 

'■ It deserves mention that in 1752 it was voted by this society to take up a 
contribution on Thanksgiving Day, the proceeds of which should be devoted to 
charitable purposes, and that at the ensuing Thanksgiving more than fifty dol- 
lars were raised. How long this praiseworthy course was continued, or how well 
the parish sustained its reputation for liberality at these contributions in subse- 
quent years, we are not informed. 

309 



310 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

on the Plains and at Cat Mousam, induced feelings of discontent 
among the inhabitants of these localities in regard to the situation 
of the meeting-house, and in March, 1767, a proposition was made 
at a parish meeting to remove the building to the lot now occupied 
by the Unitarian Church, which was carried, twenty-three to eight. 
It was found impracticable, for various reasons, to carry this vote 
into effect, however, and the project was abandoned. In 1772 the 
parish voted to build a new meeting-house, fifty-six by forty-four, 
two stories high, with a porch in front, with forty-six pews on the 
lower floor and twenty-four in the gallery. Although the house was 
not completed, it was voted November 22, 1773, "that the public 
worship of God be hereby removed from the old to the new meeting- 
house." In 1799 the several committees that had been appointed 
under different votes to superintend the construction of the edifice, 
or certain specified parts of it, were discharged, but the building had 
not been finished. We are told that the society was united and har- 
monious. Fully one-quarter of a century had passed away since the 
vote to build a new house on a new location, and during these years 
fifty parish meetings had been held to adopt, annul or modify vote* 
in relation to it. And now it would appear that the structure was 
not only incomplete, but generally unsatisfactory. 

Between the years 1799 and 1803 the population of the Second 
Parish was considerably increased, and at the last-named date there 
was good reason to believe that the precinct would continue to 
increase for years to come, in the number of its inhabitants as well 
as in its industries and wealth. It was at this time generally 
admitted that the meeting-house should be enlarged, and votes were 
passed at a parish meeting held June 20, 1803, authorizing an addi- 
tion of twenty-eight feet to its length and the erection of a belfry, 
also making provision for the commencement, prosecution and com- 
pletion of the work, including the finishing of the interior of both 
the new and old parts of the house. The building was sawn in two, 
the rear half part moved back twenty-eight feet, the intervening 
space connected by walls, and a new roof over the whole. The 
tower was erected as far as the floor of the belfry during that year 
and after the interior was completed the church was fitted out with 
new pews. 

A thrilling incident occurred at the close of the joiners' work on 
the outside of the building. The roof had been shingled, the stag- 
ings removed, and the taking down of a long ladder was all that 
remained to be done, when Mr. Eaton, the contractor, while looking 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 311 

with Others upon the roof, espied a number of small pieces of shin- 
gles lying near the west side of the ridgepole which he thought it 
would be well to sweep off. With this purpose he took a broom, 
climbed to the belfry floor and thence stepped on to the roof; he 
had proceeded but a short distance when he slipped and began to 
descend toward the eaves. A part of those who were watching his 
movements hurried to pile up shavings at the place where it seemed 
inevitable that he must fall, while others were removing the ladder 
to a point where, if they could reach it seasonably, there was ground 
for hope that it would be serviceable to him. Mr. Eaton succeeded, 
by judicious use of his arms and legs, in slackening his speed, but 
still continued to descend until his feet were beyond the roof's edge, 
when he stopped. A shingle nail had not been driven home and 
this, catching in his pantaloons, arrested his progress. A minute 
later the ladder was so placed as to prevent his falling, and a strong 
man had ascended so far that by his aid Mr. Eaton was enabled to 
grasp the ladder, regain an erect position and descend in safety. It 
was truly a hairbreadth escape. This story is well authenticated. 

The spire was not erected until the summer of 1804. The bell 
was put in position and first rung, to the great edification of expect- 
ant citizens, in the autumn of that year. This bell has quite an 
historic value inasmuch as it is called the "Paul Revere bell," cast 
on the sides of which is "Revere & Son, 1803," named for the same 
one as took the memorable midnight ride through Charlestown to 
Concord and Lexington and said to his friend: 
" If the British march 
By land or sea from the town to-night, 
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch." 

This bell originally possessed very strong and clear tones; on the 
occasion of a disastrous fire at Kennebunk in 1824 its alarm was 
audible at Shaker Hill in Alfred, eleven miles distant. 

The bell was rung week days at seven in the morning, at noon, 
and the curfew at nine in the evening, the last named supplemented 
by a stroke of the hammer against the bell for each day of the 
month, /. e. the first day of a month was indicated by one stroke 
and so on through its days until the last, which, if the month con- 
tained thirty-one days, required that number of strokes against the 
bell. This practice was not discontinued until about 1816. Mr. 
Jacob Kimball was for many years sexton of the church, among the 
duties of which office was the ringing of the bell for religious ser- 
vices Sundays and whenever they might be held on week days. 



312 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The parish paid the whole bill. After the Second Parish had been 
organized the P'irst Parish thought the expense of the regular week- 
day ringing should be divided between the two ; the Second declined 
to enter into such an arrangement and the First declined to have it 
rung on their account. It was of such general convenience, how- 
ever, especially to farmers and mechanics, that it could not well be 
dispensed with, so the custom was continued and the expenses de- 
frayed by subscription. After a factory had been put in operation, 
its bell fully answered the needs of the public, and the ringing of 
that belonging to the First Parish was no longer required. This 
was the second bell in the county, the first having been raised to 
the belfry of the meeting-house in York sixteen years previously. 
Besides these there was only one other in the District, at Portland, 
in the belfry of Mr. Smith's church, where it was hung in 1753. 

In 1810 a small organ was purchased by subscription and set 
up in the singers' seats. It was built by Dr. Joshua Furbish, of 
Wells, who was an ingenious mechanic, a self-taught organ builder, 
and withal somewhat distinguished for his mathematical genius. 

In 1820 necessary repairs were made upon the church edifice, 
after which the exterior was painted and also in part the interior. 

Two stoves were set up in the meeting house in 182 1, the first 
warming apparatus, except hand stoves, introduced into the church 
building. The power of imagination was strongly exemplified on 
the Sunday after these stoves had been put into the places they 
were to occupy on the floor and before the setting up of the funnel 
had been completed. A strong effort was made to get them in run- 
ning order before a certain Sundaj^, but the funnels were very long 
and little hindrances numerous, so that it was found impracticable 
and the work was suspended at a late hour on Saturday evening. 
The next day proved to be clear, but very cold. A good old lady, 
who sat in one of the pews in the body of the house, was heard by 
a woman who occupied a pew adjoining to sigh frequently and to 
move about uneasily. Soon she threw off her shawl and laying it 
across the partition between the pews whispered to her neighbor: 
"I can't stand this; it is so hot here that a shawl is unbearable." 
The neighbor quietly replied: "There has been no fire in the 
stoves; they couldn't get the funnel completed yesterday." "Is 
that so?" queried the old lady, and her neighbor noticed that the 
shawl was gradually and noiselessly withdrawn from the partition and 
replaced over the shoulders of the recent sufferer from intense heat. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 313 

In 1840, after the galleries had been floored over, the audience 
room was heated by hot-air pipes from stoves in the hall and lecture 
room beneath, thus doing away with the box stoves that had for so 
many years occupied a corner pew at each side of the aisle at the 
entrance end of the church, with their unsightly long funnels extend- 
ing to the chimney, at the joints of which hung small pails to 
catch the creosote. In 1852 furnaces were purchased by the soci- 
ety; these were supplanted in 1864 by still better ones. 

Blinds for the Avindows of the church were purchased, by sub- 
scription, in 182 1. These were removed in 1838, the windows 
enlarged and new blinds to correspond with them were hung. 
These changes, the closing up of the doorway on its western side 
and the removal of the steps leading thereto are the only alterations 
that have been made on or about the exterior of the main building 
to this day. The steeple remains as it was left by the carpenters in 
1804, excepting the closing up of two doors, one on each side of the 
basement of the tower, and the dial plate of the clock above the 
belfry. 

A new organ was placed in the singers' seats in October, 1827. 
This was also the handiwork of Mr. Furbish, but was much larger 
and was regarded as a great improvement, both in tone and power, 
upon that which was set up in 18 10 and which was now taken down 
and sold at auction. The cost of the new organ, it is believed, was 
four hundred dollars. Of this sum Mr. Ebenezer Shackley contrib- 
uted two hundred dollars. In 1850 the society was presented with 
a fine pipe organ, costing one thousand dollars, the liberal gift of 
Capt. William Lord, Jr. 

Mr. Little was compelled, in consequence of failing health, to 
relinquish the active duties devolving upon him as pastor of the 
society in 1799. In a letter dated June 8, 1800, written by Mr. 
Little to Rev. Mr. Lyman, of York, he says : "Through divine good- 
ness I enjoy comfortable health of body, but my powers of recollec- 
tion and reflection are very feeble, and my affections and passions 
childish. . . . Mr. Fletcher, our present candidate, comes well 
recommended. His performances have been agreeable to me and 
the people. The church and parish will this day be notified to give 
their opinion in the choice of a colleague pastor. I hope that the 
wisdom that is from above will direct our ways." The pulpit was 
supplied, by committees appointed for the purpose, until the third 
day of September, 1800, when the ordination of Nathaniel H. 
Fletcher as colleague pastor with Mr. Little took place. Mr. 



314 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Fletcher's salary was fixed at four hundred dollars per annum, with 
the use of the parsonage property, consisting of wild land in Ale- 
wive. The sermon at the ordination was by Rev. Dr. Tappan, of 
Cambridge, Mass. 

Mr. Little died the fifth day of October, 1801, aged seventy- 
eight years, having held the pastorate of this society for the term of 
fifty years. 

A Sunday school — the first in the town — was inaugurated at 
the meeting-house in the village on Sunday, the sixteenth day of 
May, 1819. The Visiter oi November twenty-seventh sums up the 
season's work as follows : Children admitted to the school, two 
hundred and twenty-five ; number of verses recited from the Bible, 
thirty-one thousand seven hundred and twenty-five; number of 
verses from Watts's Hymns, twenty-two thousand six hundred and 
fifty-two; number of answers from different catechisms, sixty-three 
thousand five hundred and nineteen. Several of the scholars 
received their first lessons in spelling and reading in the school. 
"The good behavior, diligence and acquisition of the school in gen- 
eral " are spoken of in commendatory terms. 

We continue the history of the First Parish, commencing with 
a brief statement of facts in regard to the "Greenleaf Controversy," 
which we gather from copies of votes and communications published 
in the Gazette during its progress. 

The views of Mr. Little respecting the prominent doctrinal 
points that, shortly after the close of his ministerial labors, became 
the strong dividing lines between the Orthodox and Unitarian 
churches, are not distinctly known. We apprehend that during the 
last part of the eighteenth century — in country parishes more espe- 
cially the true worship of the omniscient and omnipotent God and 

the leading of lives consonant with the precepts and example of 
Christ were topics most earnestly and most frequently dwelt upon in 
pulpit exhortations of those who held the ministerial office. It was 
the life and not a creed that was to save. Theoretical doctrines 
were by no means neglected, but were often zealously expounded in 
discourses of many divisions, from "firstly" even to "nineteenthly" 
and "twentiethly"; but then, as now, there were many different 
shades of belief, all of which were nominally evangelical. 

The Kennebunk parish was noted for the harmony that pre- 
vailed among its members. We have no reason to believe that this 
unity was the outgrowth of indifference ; they were, as a whole, a 
church-going people, firm believers in the great truths of Christian- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 315 

ity and as free from the prevailing foibles and vices of the time as 
any other community. Indeed, its inhabitants sustained an excel- 
lent reputation for morality, integrity and nobleness, and were fre- 
quently spoken of abroad as remarkable for these excellencies of 
general character. 

The great doctrinal discussion, in 1812, between Dr. Worcester 
and Prof. Stuart, in support of the views held by the Orthodox, and 
Dr. Channing and Prof. Ware, in defense and advocacy of those 
held by the Unitarians, changed the peaceful current of thought 
and feeling in reference to religious subjects that had prevailed in 
Maine. In all the parishes there were, probably, some who 
embraced the faith held by the Unitarians, but with very few excep- 
tions, in all of them, the tenets of the Orthodox were generally 
accepted. Of the parishes in York County one only contained a 
strong majority of believers in the doctrines advocated by Channing 
and Ware, — that in Kennebunk, Rev. Mr. Fletcher (successor to 
Mr. Little), pastor. For awhile, however, the good fellowship 
among the churches was not disturbed. 

Jonathan Greenleaf was ordained as pastor of the Congrega- 
tional Church and Society in Wells in March, 1815, Mr, Fletcher 
being one of the council and giving the right hand of fellowship. 
Mr. Greenleaf was possessed of respectable talents, was zealous, 
ambitious, fond of controversy, and one of that unhappy, but unfor- 
tunately very numerous, class of individuals who are unwilling to 
accord to others the rights of private judgment and of conscientious 
action which they claim for themselves, and are often unmindful 
that those whom they arraign and criticise are, as regards purity of 
life, education, sound judgment and true respectability, fully their 
equals if not superiors. Some eighteen months after his ordination 
Mr. Greenleaf sent an anonymous letter to Mr. Fletcher, concerning 
his religious faith, which was ungentlemanly and insulting in its 
tone, and which we presume never found a defender, rarely an apol- 
ogist. This was followed a year later by another letter, over his 
own signature, apologizing for the manner of the first, but scarcely 
less abusive. Mr. Fletcher, who had taken no notice of the first 
communication, now laid the whole matter before his parish. Its 
members were naturally excited and indignant. A parish meeting 
was called, by which a committee was appointed to prepare resolu. 
tions expressive of its sentiments. Several strong resolutions, drawn 
by George W, Wallingford, were reported and unanimously adopted; 
they declared undiminished confidence in and respect for Mr. 



316 HISTORY OF KENNEBUxNK. 

Fletcher and denounced the action of Mr. Greenleaf. As was to be 
expected, these movements produced great excitement; doctrines 
were discussed ; harsh epithets were used ; the Unitarians were not 
inclined to rest quietly while branded as "infidels," as of a sect "who 
denied the Saviour," and with other disparaging appellations, and 
they, too, were not backward in the use of expressions calculated to 
irritate their persecutors. Those who had been firm friends were 
estranged, the intimate relations that had been maintained between 
families being succeeded by coolness and stately recognition. Sev- 
eral families and parts of families left the old parish and, with a 
number of residents who had never been regular attendants at the 
services held there, formed a congregation respectable in numbers, 
embracing some of the best citizens and a fair representation of the 
wealth of the town. Regular Sunday religious services were held 
by them in the spacious hall of the "old brick store," and the 
"Union Church" was organized on the fifteenth day of August, 
1826.^ Public exercises were also held on the afternoon of the 
same day; sermon by Rev. T. Pomeroy, of Gorham. In December, 
1827, Daniel Campbell was ordained as pastor over this church and 
society. 

The events just narrated placed Mr. Fletcher in an embarrass- 
ing position. He was convinced that it would be better for the par- 
ish if he should dissolve his connection with it, — indeed he thought 
it to be his duty to do so, — but his relations with his people, as a 
whole, were very pleasant. He had a large family; with great labor 
and much personal sacrifice he had brought his farm into an excel- 
lent condition,"- and his buildings were neat, convenient, ample and 
in good repair; it was a desirable home and he was past the merid- 
ian of life. He was not long, however, in determining upon a course 
of action. He would resign his pastorate, sell his homestead and 
outlying lands, remove to an interior town in Massachusetts and 
there occupy the paternal mansion and farm, of which he was the 
owner by inheritance. He made known his views to the active 
members of his society. They felt that his conclusions were judi- 

' From this date the hall was known as " Union Hall " until the building was 
destroyed by fire. 

-The fine rows of elms on both sides of the street, in the immediate vicinity 
of his residence, were set out by Mr. Fletcher about 1812. The long line of stump 
fence which for many years formed the roadside inclosure of his large field, 
bounded westerly by the river, was built by Mr. Fletcher at the cost of a great 
amount of hard labor. While it stood erect it was the subject of many favorable 
comments by citizens and strangers. Only a very small portion of it is still 
standing; this is badly broken, however, and gives but a faint idea of its original 
size and somewhat imposing appearance. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBQNK. 



317 



cious; that if he continued here his situation, under the circum- 
stances, would be one of disquietude; that it was inadvisable to 
permit personal regrets to interfere with the obvious good of the old 
parish, so dear to pastor and to people. It was resolved to adopt 
the plan recommended by Mr. Fletcher. A request was made at 
the headquarters of the denomination, in Boston, that a young man 
should be sent to occupy the pulpit as a candidate. In response, 
George W. Wells, of Boston, was selected as a person well fitted to 
meet the wants of the society. A number of the parishioners met 
at the bookstore, by arrangement, on the afternoon of the day on 
which he arrived in town, to whom he was introduced by Rev. Mr. 
Fletcher. He was twenty-five years of age, below the medium 
stature, slender, evidently not robust, and extemely diffident. All 
present expressed themselves as much pleased with his unassuming 
manners, but several were fearful that he would not be able to meet 
the requirements of the situation. The next day was Sunday and 
the church was well filled. The plain, earnest, well-written and 
well-delivered sermons by the young candidate delighted all his 
hearers. The services on his second Sunday increased these favor- 
able impressions. Mr. Fletcher's opinion being sought, his answer 
was, "Seek no farther." At a parish meeting held a few days 
subsequently it was voted unanimously to extend to Mr. Wells an 
invitation to settle as colleague pastor with Mr. Fletcher. The 
invitation was accepted and the ordination exercises occurred on 
the twenty-fourth day of October, 1827, as follows: Introductory 
Prayer by Rev. Mr. Frothingham, of Boston; Reading of the Scrip- 
tures by Rev. Mr. Barrett, of Boston ; Consecrating Prayer by Rev. 
Dr. Kirkland, of Harvard University; Sermon by Rev. Dr. Lowell, 
of Boston, from Romans, eighth chapter, ninth and tenth verses; 
Charge by Rev. Mr. Fletcher; Right Hand of Fellowship by Rev. 
Mr. Ripley, of Boston ; Address to the People by Rev. Dr. Nichols, 
of Portland ; Concluding Prayer by Rev. Dr. Parker, of Portsmouth. 
Two hymns, written for the occasion by Rev. Mr. Fletcher, were 
sung during the exercises. 

An association called the Unitarian Association of Kennebunk, 
auxiliary to the American Unitarian Association, was organized 
April third, 1827 ; Rev. Nathaniel H. Fletcher was chosen President 
and Daniel Sewall, Secretary and Treasurer. This was subsequently 
merged into a county association, which was formed and organized 
at a meeting of gentlemen from several towns in the county of York, 
held in Kennebunk on the twenty-fourth day of October, 1827, 



318 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

under the name of "The York County Unitarian Association, auxil- 
iary to the American Unitarian Association," to diffuse the knowl- 
edge and promote the interests of pure Christianity. A constitution 
was drawn up and adopted. Rev. Mr. Fletcher was chosen Presi- 
dent, Rev. Thomas Tracy,^ of Biddeford, Vice President, and Daniel 
Sewall, Secretary and Treasurer. Directors, John Low, of Kenne* 
bunk; William A. Hayes, of South Berwick; Pelatiah Harmon, Jr., 
of Buxton ; George Thacher, of Saco ; William Low, of Kennebunk ; 
Jeremiah Bradbury, of Alfred, and Charles O. Emerson, of York. 
The bookstore of James K. Remich, in Kennebunk, was designated 
as a depository for the publications of the American Unitarian Asso- 
ciation. A sermon was delivered before the newly formed County 
Association on the evening of the twenty-fourth by Rev. Henry 
Ware, Jr., of Boston, from Ephesians, fourth chapter, fourth and 
fifth verses. A large edition of this sermon was published at the 
Gazette office. It has been published by the American Unitarian 
Association as one of its tracts. 

We think the interest in this association gradually lessened, as 
the excitement growing out of the circumstances above narrated 
diminished, and that it was maintained only a few years. 

Mr. Wells's health began to tail in 1835, and two years later, 
by the recommendation of physicians, he made arrangements to 
spend the winter (1837-38) at the South. It so happened that Rev. 
Mr. Bascom, who had been preaching in Savannah, Ga., was in ill 
health at the time and was advised by his physician to spend the 
winter in New England. These facts becoming known to each 
other, correspondence ensued, which resulted in an agreement for 
an exchange of pulpits for the winter and early spring months. 
Accordingly Mr. Wells went to Savannah and Mr. Bascom came to 
Kennebunk. Mr. Bascom was a man of good talents, wrote excel- 
lent sermons and delivered them in an acceptable manner. He was 
a gentleman of the old school, formal, yet genial; conservative, but 
free from narrowness. We think he was the only minister who ever 
held religious services in the church on Christmas Day (when it 
occurred on a week day). These services were well attended, fore- 
noon and afternoon. The novelty of the event, and perhaps, we 

' The Second Parish meeting-house In Saco (Unitarian) was dedicatod Novem- 
ber 21, 1827, and on the same day Rev. Thomas Tracy was installed as its pastor. 
Sermon by Rev. Mr. Greenwood, of Boston. A sermon v>-as delivered in the even- 
ing by Rev. Mr. Walker, of Charlostown. Large editions of both of these sermons 
were published at the Kennebunk Gazette office. The last-named was afterward 
published by the American Unitarian Association, as a tract, with the title of 
"The Exclusive System." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



319 



should add, the remarkable mildness of the weather, drew out con- 
gregations above the average of the usual gatherings on Sunday, 
quite a number being in attendance from other societies. Mr. Wells 
was much admired by the Savannah people, and he preached to full 
houses during his stay in that city. It is quite probable that too 
much was required of him while there; he returned home in the 
spring very little improved in health. 

At a parish meeting held in April, 1838, a proposition was 
made looking to the remodeling of the interior of the church, 
because it was known that its large size rendered it difficult — some- 
times exceedingly difficult — for speakers occupying the pulpit to 
raise their voices so as to be heard distinctly in all parts of the 
house, and it was feared that Mr. Wells's trouble might be aggra- 
vated from this cause ; and secondly because the church was old- 
fashioned, with few long and many square pews, a pulpit so elevated 
that it required many steps to reach it, and galleries that were 
unnecessary and unsightly. To keep abreast of the fashion of the 
time, therefore, it ought certainly to be modernized and improved. 
The proposition met with a hearty response, and it was voted to 
commence the work without unnecessary delay. By the plan 
adopted, the galleries were removed; a floor was laid over the interior 
about ten feet above the sills, thus dividing the house, horizontally, 
into a lower and an upper apartment. The lower floor was left for 
a while in its original state (excepting, of course, the pews and 
pulpit) and was used for town and other public meetings, such as 
lyceum, temperance and other lectures. The upper floor was very 
neatly finished with pews (nearly all of which were lined), pulpit 
and choir, in the then modern style, and later the aisles were car- 
peted, chandeliers were put up, the old organ removed and a better 
one (the gift of Capt. William Lord, Jr.,) placed in the choir, while 
the room on the lower floor was divided by a partition into two 
apartments ; that on the western side afforded a good room for the 
purposes above named, as well as for the Sunday school, a room for 
the parish library, a kitchen with closets and other adjuncts for 
"society" uses; that on the eastern side finished so as to afford a 
vestry, conveniently and neatly furnished with seats, pulpit, etc., 
and in the rear of the vestry a room answering the double purpose 
of a sitting room and for the Sunday-school library, which has been 
used in later years as a room for the parish library. 

The remodeling of the interior of the church edifice failed to 
produce its hoped-for effect, so far as it related to the health of the 



320 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

pastor, which soon became a source of anxiety to his parishioners 
and to himself, and before the lapse of many months after his return 
from the South it was apparent that it was absolutely necessary that 
he should sever his connection with the parish — "a connection 
inexpressibly dear to the whole parish" — and seek a remedial agent 
in the different and more congenial air of the interior. Mr. Wells 
asked dismission on the fifth of October, 1838, which was granted 
at a parish meeting held on the fifteenth of that month, and a com- 
mittee "selected from the fathers of the church" (Samuel Emerson, 
Daniel Sewall and Joseph Hatch) was appointed to communicate to 
him the action of the meeting. 

Rev. Edward H, Edes, who had been pastor of the Unitarian 
Society in Augusta, Maine, was installed as pastor over the church 
and society October 23, 1839. Early in the fourth year of his 
ministry here his health began to fail, the result of neglected colds, 
which, working on a constitution not naturally strong, led to a state 
of decline. Still he worked on, alternating between hope and fear, 
now encouraged by apparently returning strength, soon to be disap- 
pointed by still greater weakness. He died May 30, 1845. His 
remains were interred in the cemetery near the church where he 
had labored so faithfully. 

William C. Tenney was the fifth pastor of this church. He 
was ordained October 7, 1845. Mr. Tenney was dismissed at his 
own request January 17, 184S. 

Joshua A. Swan, of Lowell, Mass., succeeded Mr. Tenney. 
Mr. Swan was ordained February 6, 1850. On the twenty-sixth of 
June the centennial anniversary of the formation of the First Con- 
gregational Society in Kennebunk was appropriately noticed. The 
exercises on the occasion were : Voluntary; Introductory Prayer, 
by the pastor. Rev. Mr. Swan; Hymn; Reading of the Scriptures; 
Hymn ; Prayer, by Rev. Dr. Nichols ; Address, by Edward E. 
Bourne; Hymn; Concluding Prayer ; Benediction. In the evening 
a collation was served in the vestry, addresses were made and three 
original odes were sung. Mr, Swan's relations with his parish dur- 
ing the term of his ministry — almost nineteen years — were of the 
most pleasant character. The severing of the connection between 
pastor and people, so long and so happily maintained, was deeply 
regretted by both, but disease rendered the step unavoidable. He 
closed his pastorate June 21, 1869, and took up his residence in 
Cambridge, Mass., with the hope that a change of location and of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 321 

employment might be the means of his restoration to health, but 
these anticipations were disappointed. He died October 31, 1871. 
A few years later his widow, Mrs. S. H. Swan, presented the society 
with their home on High Street for a parsonage as a memorial of 
her husband. 

Rev. Charles C. Vinal, from North Andover, Mass., was 
installed as pastor of this society April 27, 1870. He still retains 
this position. He is the seventh pastor over this society in the 
long term of one hundred and thirty-nine years (1890). 

The "Kennebunk Sunday School Society," organized the 
twelfth of March, 1829, generally called the "Ladies Sewing 
Circle," has been and now is a helpful auxiliary to the parish, in the 
performance of Christian work, by its contributions in furtherance 
of benevolent and worthy objects, "lending a hand" wherever its 
aid will be promotive of good, regardless of sect and far-reaching 
in its charities, not confining itself to home needs. The meet- 
ings were held fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons at the homes 
of members and friends, the hours being from one o'clock to six in 
summer and till nine in winter. It seems a little singular that the 
interest in such a benevolent work should have been allowed to die 
out, but such was the fact. The enthusiasm of its members began 
gradually to wane until it was given up altogether during the years 
1858 and 1859. Finally the attention of Rev. Mr. Swan was called 
to it and he, realizing the amount of good this society had done in 
the past, was instrumental in reviving the interest of the ladies of 
his parish with the result that it was reorganized February first, 
i860, retaining the old name of the "Kennebunk Sunday School 
Society," but changing the day to Thursday, meeting in homes as 
previously until January, 1868, when it was voted to gather in the 
Sunday-school room and omit the meetings from May to October. 
Socially the organization has been an effective instrument in sus- 
taining friendly feelings among its members, and its bi-monthly 
meetings are so conducted as to afford rational enjoyment to those 
who attend them. 

Similar societies are maintained in every other parish in the 
village, and, we think we may safely say, in every parish in the 
town differing only in the objects to which the moneys obtained are 
devoted, — being specific rather than general, such as aiding in the 
support of the minister or of the Sunday-school library, — each in 
some manner helping onward a praiseworthy work. 

21 



322 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The First Parish Library is the largest collection of books, for 
general reading, in town. Its origin dates far back in the history 
of the parish ; it was not kept as a distinct library, however, but a 
portion of it was incorporated with the Sunday School Library and 
the remainder was laid aside unused until Rev. Mr. Swan and the 
society in general came to realize the benefit it would be to the 
church as a whole to have a library that would meet their needs. 
In January, 1862, the ladies of the Sunday School Society "re- 
solved" that the "Parish Library" should be re-established and 
donated fifty dollars for the purpose. The library contains about 
twenty-five hundred volumes, increasing at the rate of fully one 
hundred volumes per year, exclusive of many copies of public docu- 
ments and bound and unbound magazines which are not embraced 
in the catalogue. The income of a respectable fund, chiefly derived 
from bequests of former members of the society, increased by yearly 
contributions from the Sunday School Society, affords means for 
adding to it, from time to time, all new publications of merit, as 
well as desirable selections from catalogues of standard works in 
the various branches of literature. 

The Sunday School Library of the First Parish, now occupying 
a room at the rear of the Sunday-school hall, is quite large, contain- 
ing on its shelves some twelve hundred books. This also has a 
small fund, the income of which is expended in the purchase of new 
books, besides which, when needed, contributions are always cheer- 
fully made by the parishioners. 

We believe there is a good Sunday School Library, both as 
regards number of volumes and the character of the selections, in 
every parish in town. Combining instruction and amusement, the 
usefulness of these libraries is so obvious and they are so thoroughly 
appreciated by the children that there is no difference of opinion as 
regards the necessity of their generous maintenance, and calls for 
pecuniary aid to this end always meet with a hearty response. 

Second Congrecational Society (Orthodox). 
As stated in foregoing pages, this society was organized in 
August, 1826, and held its meetings for religious worship in Union 
Hall or, as it was styled by the society, " The Union Church Con- 
ference Room" until the completion of its meeting-house, in 1829. 
Daniel Campbell, its first pastor, was ordained in December, 1827, 
and resigned his pastorate June 10, 1828. The meeting-house now 
standing on Dane Street (then known as Union Street) was erected 



HISTORY OF K.ENNEBUNK. 323 

in 1828 and dedicated October seventh, but was not completed until 
February, 1829. The pews were sold March second and brought 
satisfactory prices. 

Rev. Beriah Green was installed as pastor of the society July 
31, 1829. Mr. Green resigned his pastorate September twenty- 
eighth of the year following, having received the appointment of 
Professor of Biblical Literature in the Western Reserve College, 
Hudson, Ohio, of which Professor Storrs was President. Mr. Green 
was precisely the man that was needed at the time of his settlement, 
social, talented, liberal minded, an earnest worker in the faithful 
discharge of his parochial duties and always prompt to aid any 
measure designed to elevate the moral condition or advance the 
educational interests of the community, or, indeed, whatever tended 
to uplift men from the degradation caused by evil habits or princi- 
ples adverse to the welfare of society. 

Rev. Joseph Fuller was ordained as pastor over the church and 
society on Wednesday, September 29, 1830. Mr. Fuller was dis- 
missed July 16, 1834,^ and was succeeded by Rev. Josiah W. Powers, 
who was installed as pastor November eighth of the same year. 
Mr. Powers remained with the society until August 27, 1837, when 
he was dismissed. He died in Putnam, Muskingum County, Ohio, 
March 31, 1840, while employed as agent of the American Bible 
Society. "He was desirous of obtaining a settlement in New 
England favorable to his health, but finding none, engaged in the 
service of the Bible Society," and made the choice of Ohio as his 
field of labor. 

Rev. George W. Cressey, the next settled minister, was ordained 
as pastor July 9, 1840. Mr. Cressey dissolved his connection with 
the society November 12, 1851. Rev. William H. Wilcox succeeded 
Mr. Cressey. He was installed March 4, 1852, and remained with 
the society until June 8, 1857. J, Evarts Pond supplied the pulpit 
from June to October, and Granville Wardwell from December to 
April of the following year. Franklin E. Fellows was ordained in 
December, 1858, and dismissed in November, 1865. Rev. Walter 
E. Darling was installed as pastor March 20, 1866, and his connec- 
tion with the society was dissolved the ninth of November, 1876, 
not long after which date he was installed as pastor of the Congre- 
gational Church and Society in Farmington, N. H., where he 
remained until 1888, when ill health compelled him to resign his 

' Mr. Fuller was installed pastor of the Congregational Oluirch and Society in 
Brimfleld, Mass., March 11. 1835. 



324 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

charge. For several years after the dismissal of Mr. Darling the 
church was without a settled minister, Rev. William F. Obear and 
Rev. L. F. Ferris filling the pulpit as supplies. A call was extended 
to Rev. George A. T.ockwood on March 29, 1879, to become its pas- 
tor, but the installation did not take place until a year later, March 
20, 1880. He retains the position to the present date, 1890. 

In 1853 the interior of the church was improved by the removal 
of its high pulpit and galleries. In i860 a chapel, neat and commo- 
dious, was erected in the immediate vicinity of the church, where 
its social meetings have since been held. The parsonage, on Main 
Street, was purchased by the society in 1866. Extensive alterations 
were made on the church building in 1869, when a new spire and 
vestibule were erected. An addition in the rear for the organ and 
choir was made, the windows were enlarged and the building was 
repainted, while the interior improvements consisted of new fur- 
nishings, including pulpit, pews, organ and furniture. 

Calvinist Baptist Society (Alewive). 
The first society holding the tenets of this religious denomina- 
tion in Kennebunk was organized at Alewive in 1803. It was com- 
posed of persons who had withdrawn from the village societj^ of 
several families who lived across the river (on the eastern side of 
Kennebunk River, in the town of Kennebunkport), and of a few 
persons belonging to the southern part of Lyman. Most of the 
members who left the village society were influenced by a desire to 
worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. There 
were others, whose views did not accord with the peculiar religious 
sentiments of the majority, who united with them in this movement 
because they wished to attend public religious services regularly, 
but lived so far from the village that it was inconvenient, often im- 
practicable, for them to do so. Rev. Joshua Roberts was the first 
settled minister over this society, who continued his labors there, 
acceptably and usefully, nearly thirty years. The church consisted 
of fifteen members when constituted and at the date of Mr. Roberts's 
resignation had a membership of sixty-three. 

Rev. Samuel Robbins was the next pastor, his installation tak- 
ing place on the fifth of June, 1833. All the sevices on the occasion 
were interesting; the music was excellent, the audience large, atten- 
tive and gratified. Mr. Robbins remained one year only. We do 
not know why it was that his ministerial labors here were of so short 
duration; apparently he commenced them under the most favorable 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 325 

circumstances. There were no religious services here for about a 
year following the withdrawal of Mr. Robbins. Rev. Shubael Tripp 
was the pastor of this church and society from 1835 ^o 1837, in 
which year he died. After Mr. Tripp's decease there was no settled 
minister and we think no regular Sunday services until 1838, when 
Charles Emerson ofificiated as pastor; he was succeeded in 1839 by 
Elias McGregor, who was succeeded in 1840 by John Hubbard, who 
was dismissed in 1842 and was succeeded by Gideon Cook, who re- 
mained until February, 1843, when he became pastor of the village 
church. About 1841 a Calvinist Baptist Society was formed in 
Lyman and the Alewive society suffered the loss of several mem- 
bers who lived within the limits of the new organization. Far from 
being in a flourishing condition before, the loss of members and 
procuring aid rendered the society weak indeed; it was regarded as 
impracticable longer to maintain religious services, and in accord- 
ance with a vote of the parish the meeting-house, which was proba- 
bly an uncomfortable and dilapidated building, was taken down and 
the society temporarily disbanded. 

For a number of years prior to the movements narrated above, 
there had been several families of Freewill Baptists in the neighbor- 
hood, who had frequently held meetings in district schoolhouses or 
in the dwellings of those who were adherents of this religious faith. 
They, as well as their Calvinistic neighbors, were without a house 
of worship; both sadly needed one; both served one Master. The 
only trouble appeared to be that one party desired to travel in the 
old pathway laid out by Roger Williams, while the other thought 
that the new way, built by Benjamin Randall, was altogether the 
pleasantest and best. Wise counsels prevailed. A union of the 
two sects, on equitable terms, was proposed and favorably received. 
A house for public worship was erected in 1847, on a delightful 
location, the site of the former structure. It was agreed that a cler- 
gyman of the Calvinistic faith should supply the pulpit one year, 
and that the following year religious services should be performed 
by a clergyman of the Freewill Baptist denomination. The union, 
so judiciously formed, has been successfully and harmoniously con- 
tinued to the present time. Several families from that part of Ken- 
nebunkport which adjoins the Alewives attend and contribute to the 
support of the religious services held here. The parish embraces 
dwellers on probably the best sections of farming land in either 
town, which are well and profitably cultivated by men of sterling 
worth and pecuniarily independent. 



326 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

A Calvinist Baptist Church, to be known as the "Village 
Church," was constituted, with the usual public exercises, at Wash- 
ington Hall, July 1 6, 1834. The church and society held their 
meetings in this hall until their meeting-house was completed. In 
the autumn of 1834 they fortunately obtained the services of Thomas 
O. Lincoln (son of Mr. Lincoln of the bookselling and publishing 
firm of Lincoln & Edmunds, of Boston), then recently from the 
Theological School at Newton, Mass. He was a young man of fine 
talents, an interesting speaker, of pleasing address, and was both 
popular and effective as a minister. He was ordained over the 
church and society on Wednesday, December 10, 1834, the services 
being held in the Unitarian meeting-house. In December, 1836, 
Mr. Lincoln received and accepted a call from the Free Street Bap- 
tist Church in Portland to become its pastor. 

The corner-stone of the Baptist Church in the village was laid, 
in the presence of quite a number of its citizens, Wednesday after- 
noon, May 27, 1840, with religious ceremonies; remarks by a mem 
ber of the society, prayer by Rev. Mr. Harris, singing, benediction. 
Beneath the stone was placed a lead box containing late numbers of 
several of the newspapers and periodicals of the day, a list of the 
workmen employed on the building, etc., etc. The building was 
completed and paid for, at a cost of about four thousand dollars, 
prior to October 15, 1840, in the forenoon of which day it was 
dedicated with appropriate religious exercises, and in the afternoon 
Rev. Mr. Harris was ordained. In February, 1842, Mr. Harris 
was succeeded by Rev. Gideon Cook, who continued pastor until 
September, 1843; his successor was Rev. Amaziah Joy, whose pas- 
torate continued from October i, 1843, until December, 1845; he 
was succeeded by Rev. John Boyce, who labored from May, 1846, 
to April, 1849. From this time the church had no settled pastor 
until May, 1854, when Rev. Lewis Barrows commenced his labors, 
which were closed in October, 1855. During these interruptions of 
pastoral service Rev. Messrs. Wheeler, Kendall, Butler, Pease and 
others preached more or less. The Rev. Edmund Worth, the late 
pastor, commenced his labors in June, 1856.^ Mr. Worth resigned 
his position in June, 1889, after a continuous pastorate of thirty- 
three years. Although remarkably active for one of his age and 
with mental faculties unimpaired, Mr. Worth felt that the infirmities 
incident to advanced years were rendering his pastoral labors more 
burdensome than in time past and that prudence dictated the course 

'Correspondent of " Pythian Times." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 327 

he resolved to adopt, a relinquishment of his pastorate, a pastorate, 
we think we may safely say, well enjoyed during all these years by 
a united society and a devoted pastor, and which was by both 
unwillingly but necessarily sundered. 

Alterations were made on the church building in 1865 by which 
it was much improved, at a cost of about fourteen hundred dollars, 
and a chapel was erected near by in 1873, which with its furniture 
cost about nine hundred and fifty dollars. Ralph Curtis, Palmer 
Walker, Parker Hall and Oliver Littlefield were prominent in the 
organization of this society. Mr. Walker held the offices of deacon 
and clerk forty-four years, from the date of its organization until his 
death, in 1878. His interest in the church never slackened; by 
his will he gave to it his library, several pews in the meeting-house 
and one thousand dollars to be held by the parish as a fund, the 
interest of which was to be annually expended to aid in the support 
of preaching. 

Methodist Societies. 

It is believed that the first Methodist meeting in the vicinity of 
Kennebunk was held in 1S16. The preacher was Rev. Robert 
Hayes, a young man of ability, who came here by invitation of the 
late Capt. Isaac Downing and delivered a sermon before a small 
audience assembled in a room in the dwelling-house of Captain 
Downing's father, in Kennebunkport, very near the boundary line 
between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. We know little concern- 
ing the progress of the sect for several years, — the encouraging or 
discouraging circumstances attending the efforts of its advocates. 
In this town the first class, of six members, was formed by John 
Adams in 18 18, and from that time, we are told, "there has always 
been a Methodist meeting in the vicinity." Not long afterward a 
meeting-house was erected in Lower Alewive, on or very near the 
spot whereon the barn of Charles Smith now stands, then on land 
belonging to Benjamin Day. A few years later the building was 
moved to a lot given them by Nathaniel Smith, Senior, on the road 
leading from the bridge to the highway passing through Lower and 
Upper Alewive; here it stood several years, when, for some reason, 
the society determined to abandon it^ and build another. Accord- 
ingly a very neat structure was erected a short distance above that 

' This building was purchased by the late Isaac Burnham and removed to the 
triangular lot formed by the two ways leading from the bridge to the main road, 
where it was fitted up for a dwelling-house, which from time to time has received 
additions and improvements. 



328 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

which had been vacated, just opposite the "John Walker house," 
now Joshua Russell's, where the society worshiped many years. 
Diminishing in numbers, however, it was found impracticable to sus- 
tain public worship therein, and a few years ago it was taken down. 

Methodist Society in the Village.^ 

The first Conference appointment at the village was in 1853, 
when Ezekiel Smith preached in what was then known as "York 
Hall," owned by Benaiah Littlefield. Its membership was thirty- 
three. Mr. Smith was reappointed in 1854; in 1855-56 John Cobb 
preached in Washington Hall; in 1857-58 Rufus H. Stinchfield 
preached. During his pastorate, and through his untiring efforts, 
the very neat edifice occupied by the society was built; it was dedi- 
cated July 28, 1858; its cost was four thousand dollars. Since the 
date above named a vestry has been added to it and other improve- 
ments made. The pastors since 1858 have been: Silas H. Hyde, 
1859; A. R. Sylvester, i860; T. H. Griffin, 1861. Charles Nason 
was appointed to this position in 1862. After preaching three 
months he was chosen captain of a company belonging to the Eighth 
Maine Regiment, which office he accepted. John M. Caldwell suc- 
ceeded him and was pastor for the remainder of the year and for 
the years 1863 and 1864. "Although Mr. Caldwell took one from 
the church — Emma, daughter of Capt. Abram Hill — to share with 
him the lights and shadows of the itineracy, we look upon his labors 
as the most successful of any during our recollection." The appoint- 
ments to this society since 1864 have been: S. Roy, 1865 ; Stephen 
Allen, 1866; John Collins, 1867-68; George W. Ballou, 1869; John 
A. Strout, 1870-72; William H. Foster, 1873; Gershom F. Cobb, 
1874-76; John M. Woodbury, 1877-78; John Cobb, 1879-81; T. 
P. Adams, 1882-84; C. F. Parsons, 1885-87; F. A. Bragdon, 
1888-90. 

"Owen E. Burnham has been class leader from the date of the 
organization of the society, and by his faithfulness for more than a 
quarter of a century has won the respect of all under his care." 

In 1864 Miss Sarah, daughter of the late Capt. James Burnham, 
of Kennebunkport, died, and by her will gave to this society her 
house and lot on Dane Street for a parsonage ; it is now improved 
as such. 

'We gather the facts here stated In reference to this society from an article 
prepared by one of its members for the " Pythian Times," published by " Mystic 
Lodge, No. 19, K. of P., in connection with the Fair held upon the occasion of 
their first anniversary," May 5, 1880. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 329 

A Methodist meeting-house was built on Saco Road, Kenne- 
bunkport, in 1819. We can learn very little of the early history of 
the society by which it was erected. It was not a costly building. 
The (at that time) few Methodists in Kennebunk Village and por- 
tions of the town nearer the seashore attended meeting there 
frequently, perhaps regularly, for a few years. We learn from 
Bradbury's History that the first Methodist sermon in Maine was 
preached by Elder Jesse Lee, of Virginia, at Saco, in 1791. In 
1797 Maine, which had previously belonged to the Boston district, 
was formed into a district by itself and in 1806 was divided into two 
districts, Portland and Kennebec. The first class in Kennebunk- 
port was formed in 18 14 by Elder Leonard Bennet. The "Arundel 
Circuit," embracing Arundel (Kennebunkport), Lyman, Hollis and 
Biddeford, was formed in 1820. The Saco Road meeting-house 
was burned many years ago. A new one, a small but convenient 
building, was built not long afterward on a lot near the site of the 
old one. We think this has never been what might be termed a 
flourishing organization, but determined spirits have always been 
foremost in its management and have been able to maintain relig- 
ious services there a large part of the time. For several years past 
and at the present time the minister in charge of the Kennebunk 
Village Society holds services there in the forenoon of each Sunday. 

The eccentric Lorenzo Dow preached in the old house one 
week day afternoon about 1822. It was said that the appointment 
for this meeting, day and hour (two p. m.), was made full eleven 
months previously. He stepped into the pulpit just one minute 
before the time designated. The house was filled to its utmost 
capacity. The usual preliminary exercises were followed by a char- 
acteristic sermon, a prayer, and then a very long hymn was given 
out. While the audience was listening to the choir, Lorenzo, dis- 
pensing with the benediction, made his exit through a window which 
opened from the pulpit, walked to the spot where his horse had 
been hitched, jumped into his wagon, and was on his way to Saco 
before the congregation discovered that he had taken his departure. 

Eastern Depot, Now West Kennebunk. 
When, in 1844, the managers of the Portland, Saco and Ports- 
mouth Railroad Company determined to establish a depot at a 
point between Mitchell's Mill and the old "Middle Mill Privilege," 
there were very few inhabitants or industries in that vicinity. Sam- 
uel Mitchell, the first depot master, soon after the road was in run- 



830 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

ning order, built a large dwelling-house near and south of the track, 
and near and north of it a large store, which he stocked with general 
merchandise. Thenceforward the vicinity steadily increased in 
population, buildings and business enterprises. A new school dis- 
trict was formed and a comfortable schoolhouse made ready for 
occupancy. And then the inhabitants arrived at the conclusion 
that they needed a house for public worship. It is apparent that 
a majority of the old residents, as well as of the then recent incom- 
ers, were Methodists, and a society holding the tenets of this 
denomination of Christians was organized without difficulty. A 
neat and commodious church was built in 1868 and was dedicated 
on the twenty-third day of September in that year. A church, con- 
sisting of twenty-five members, was also consecrated. Rev. Israel 
Downing, to whom it appears to be generally conceded much credit 
is due for his efforts in aid of the formation of the society and 
church, was the first minister. The Sunday school belonging to 
this society is in a prosperous condition. It has a good library. 
Both the school and the library are well cared for, creditable to the 
district. 

Freewill Baptists. 

The Freewill Baptists held meetings occasionally, in the village 
and its vicinity, in private dwellings or in the open air, as early as 
18 1 4, and thereafter up to the time of the Cochrane excitement, 
when they thought it prudent to retire from the field. From 182 1 
to 1824 — while "Buzzell's Hymn Book" was in press and his 
"Religious Magazine" was published (quarterly) Elder Buzzell was 
frequently in town, as well as other prominent ministers of the 
denomination, who were occasional visitors and tarried here for a 
day or two — the meetings were resumed, and were sometimes held 
in private dwellings, but generally in the old Washington Hall. 

During the time the first cotton factory was in operation meet- 
ings were held by ministers of the " Christian Connection " (seceders, 
we think, from the Freewill Baptists, who accepted the doctrine of 
the Trinity, while the seceders rejected it, and perhaps other differ- 
ences in religious views) regularly on Sundays and evenings of spec- 
ified week days ; these were well attended. On the suspension 
of the factory many of the operatives left town, and as they were, 
chiefly, the supporters and attendants of the religious services it 
was found necessary to discontinue them. The society was not 
incorporated ; among its members were men and women of sterling 
worth, and the pulpit was supplied by ministers of respectable talents. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 331 

Another society, composed of persons holding the peculiar faith 
of the "Christian Connection," was organized in the Port district or 
"Lower Village" January 28, 1833, which was prosperous for sev- 
eral years. A meeting house was built by subscription, shortly after 
its organization, on the western side of the hill opposite what is 
known as the "Jonas Merrill place." This was abandoned, how- 
ever, not long after the promulgation of the Advent doctrine, which 
found so many hearty believers among those who had worshiped 
there that it was impracticable to maintain religious services. The 
house was closed for several years. The building came into posses- 
sion of individuals at the Landing, by whom, in 1868, it was removed 
to a central situation in that district. It is a free or union meeting- 
house, open to all religious denominations, but has been improved 
chiefly by the Methodists, who hold religious services there quite 
regularly. 

About the year 1847 the seceders formed themselves into a 
separate society. Rev. Edwin Burnham, who was formerly pastor 
of the Christian Connection Society, preaching to this body from 
time to time, as occasion offered, in private dwellings. Soon after 
this separation, however, a small house was procured and located 
on the Wells road, a short distance from Cousens's Corner. This 
served as a place of worship until 1853, when the present neat 
building occupied by the Advent Society was erected. We are 
informed that the most flourishing period in the history of this 
church was when its pulpit was supplied with transient preaching. 
Its pastors have been Dr. Cummings, W. C. Stewart, W. H. Mitch- 
ell, E. H. Long, O. H. Wallace and H. H. Brown, the present pas- 
tor, the longest pastorate being that of O. H. Wallace, which was 
four years. Its present membership is about forty. 



CHAPTER IV. 

RESIDENCES AND BUILDINGS IMAIN, STORER AND FLETCHER STREETS, 

1820 TO 1890. 

During the years that have intervened since 1820 we note in 
the pages that follow the many changes that have taken place in the 
business and residential portions of the town. Some of the build- 
ings erected far anterior to the separation of Kennebunk from 
Wells are still standing to-day. 

Beginning at the Mousam River Bridge and passing up Main 
Street, the first building we find standing was put up by Daniel 
Whitney in 18 10. This is now the residence of Miss Emily Wise. 
The next building is the Michael Wise house, which is much older, 
having been erected by him in 1792, in which year he was married 
to Hannah Kimball, a descendant of the early settler, Nathaniel. 
Wise improved the eastern half of the lower floor of the dwelling- 
house as a country store for a year or two ; he purchased a store lot 
of the Storers the same year that the dwelling was erected, but the 
store was not built until the next year, when he vacated the room 
in the house. It was occupied by Joseph Thomas as a lawyer's 
office. He continued its tenant several years, until Wise's family 
had so increased that he could no longer rent it. Thomas then 
removed to a small building which stood on the lot now occupied by 
Littlefield's carpenter shop, where he practiced law until within a 
year of his death (1830). Wise was an active, enterprising man; he 
was in partnership awhile with his nephew, John Grant, Jr., afterward 
with his son, William W. Wise; he owned at one time the Taylor 
farm on Cat Mousam Road, now the property of George T. Jones. 
Wise died in 1833, at the age of sixty-seven years. His widow 
married Jeremiah Paul, who purchased the Wise homestead, which 
is now in possession of one of Paul's descendants. The store was 
sold to H. K. Sargent and improved by him and his son, Jefferson 
W., as a wheelwright's shop, and subsequently by George P. Lowell 
as a restaurant and confectionery manufactory and salesroom. It 
was destroyed by fire April 30, 1881. The lot on which it stood 
together with that covered by the adjoining building, known as 

332 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 333 

"Smith's Bake House," is now covered with the "Sargent-Ross" 
block, in which is the post office, Ross & Co.'s apothecary store, tel- 
egraph office and several other offices and shops. 

The next lot, where stands the dwelling-house owned and occu- 
pied by Frank M. Ross, was purchased of the Storers, by one Peter 
Cross, about 1786, but for some cause was conveyed back to them. 
In 1799 the Storers sold this lot, which then embraced the present 
house and store lots and so much of the street as lies adjacent to 
them, to Phineas Cole, who erected thereon the dwelling-house just 
named, the building afterward known as Smith's Bake House and 
an extensive tannery establishment, comprising beam house, bark 
house, vats, etc., etc. To what use this store building was put we are 
not sure, perhaps as a storeroom for leather and a shoemaker's shop, 
or as a bake house for Benjamin Smith, or for all these uses. Cole 
left town in 1804; the house and store were purchased by Smith, 
and the tannery establishment by Joseph Curtis. Curtis died in 
1S09; in November of that year Edmund Pierson (from Exeter, N. 
H.,) advertised that he had "taken the tanyard lately occupied by 
Joseph Curtis on Scotchman's Brook." Pierson removed to the 
west side of Mousam River in October, 181 1. Ralph Curtis became 
owner of the tannery and carried it on many years. This property 
is now in possession of his heirs. No signs of the old tannery exist. 
Plots of grass ground and neat dwelling-houses are now seen where, 
in the olden time, beam and bark houses and vats were the objects 
that met the eye. Cole was the first tanner in the village; the 
Shackleys, John and Samuel, on the Ross road and Eliphalet Walker 
at Alewive preceded him by many years. 

Adjoining, in old time, the Cole house was Pomfret Howard's. 
He purchased the lot (originally half an acre) in July, 17S8, and 
forthwith erected a dwelling-house, barn, etc., and these completed 
opened a public house. He was a hatter and whether he united this 
business with that of innkeeper is not known. He kept a very well- 
managed and respectable house, but Jefferds's and Barnard's were 
well-known and excellent inns, so that Howard did not receive the 
amount of patronage he had anticipated and by-and-by became 
embarrassed. He sold his establishment (which included eleven 
and one-half acres of pasture land adjoining the homestead, bought 
by Howard of Jacob Wakefield) to Joseph Barnard, a relative by 
marriage, by whom it was held during his lifetime. Howard removed 
to Alfred in 1802 ; here, too, he was unsuccessful and was compelled 
to mortgage his real estate, the right of redemption of which was 



334 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

sold in 1823. Thomas Folsom succeeded Howard in the occupancy 
of the Kennebunk property. Folsom was a jeweler and carried on 
business in the room fitted up by Dr. Rice as an apothecary shop. 
He also kept boarders. He removed to Portland in December, 1809. 

Stephen Thacher succeeded Folsom in the Howard house. 
Thacher came here about 1803 and opened a store in the Joseph 
Parsons building (now William Fairfield's). He purchased land on 
the Sanford road, near the " Parson Little place" ^the dwelling- 
house which he occupied from 1804 to 1809), built barns thereon, 
employed a man to cultivate his acres and perform all necessary 
farm work ; his specialty was the raising of merino sheep, of which 
we have spoken elsewhere in this volume. In 1809 Mr. Thacher 
took up his residence in the Howard house. He was postmaster 
several years, a part of which time he kept the office in the south- 
erly corner of his dwelling ; he was also judge of probate, succeeding 
Jonas Clark. To all these employments — trader, amateur farmer, 
postmaster and judge of probate — he added that of teacher of a 
private school, which was kept in the parlor of the house ; the num- 
ber of pupils was limited; it was conducted on the monitorial plan 
and was an excellent and well-patronized school. Among the schol- 
ars were the two daughters of John Holmes, of Alfred, a son of Dr, 
Thornton, of Saco, and two or three young men from Wells. Mr. 
Thacher removed from this town to Lubec in 18 18, having received 
the appointment of collector of customs at that port. Mr. Thacher 
was a graduate of Yale College, a good scholar and an energetic 
man ; he was an active politician of the Democratic school. He 
married Harriet Preble, of York, in 1804, by whom he had several 
children, sons and daughters. Peter Thacher, counselor at law in 
Boston, is a son of Judge Thacher. 

William Safford succeeded Mr. Thacher in the occupancy of 
the Howard house, which he purchased and in which he lived many 
years, until his death. His daughter, Mrs. Herrick, continued living 
there for awhile when she was succeeded by Woodbury A. Hall, 
who is the present owner and occupant of the estate. 

Adjoining Howard's was the Brown house, built by Benjamin 
Brown in 1784, where he kept a country store on the lower floor of the 
eastern half part. The small building next to this (Mrs. Bryant's), 
was originally designed for a carriage house, as is generally believed. 
Old residents, however, stoutly denied that such was the intention of 
the builder; some alleged that the carriages were kept in the barn 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. o85 

in the rear of the house ; others, that it was used as a store and still 
others, that it was built for the accommodation of an employee and 
his family. It is a matter of trifling importance, but we should be in- 
clined to adopt the view of those who oppose the carriage-house the- 
ory. There was formerly a hillock, commencing nearly opposite the 
small house and extending to Dr. Ross's line. It was plowed down 
by Mr.Fiske, while he was surveyor of the highway, about 1827, leaving 
the Brown and Howard house some feet above the level of the street. 

Mr. Brown left town in 1796 and died in 1802. The property 
then fell into the possession of Jacob Fisher, who married Brown's 
daughter (1786). Both houses were occupied at different times by 
several different tenants. In the small house David Lord, a shoe- 
maker, a poor but worthy man, lived many years. He left town in 
1824. Dr. Fisher advertised the house to let the same year: "Cel- 
lar and arches, a shed adjoining for a washing room and wood- 
house, and a shop under the same roof with a fireplace, suitable for 
a shoemaker or tailor." Fisher died in 1840, and this estate was 
sold the same year. Oliver Littlefield was the purchaser of the 
large house and Abel M. Bryant of the small. Littlefield continued 
the excavation from the level of the road, as Mr. Fiske left it, to 
and about halfway under his house, thereby giving the building a 
front of three stories, and gaining two large and convenient rooms 
and a hall. The property was purchased subsequently by Edward 
E. Bourne, Jr., who dwelt there until his removal to the small house. 
His son Herbert improved the eastern half part as a dwelling- 
house and a lawyer's office for a time, and another son, George, im- 
proved the western half part as a dwelling and a physician's office 
for a few years. 

On the lots on which now stand the dwelling-house belonging 
to Richard Littlefield, afterward sold to Solomon Reckord, and the 
house owned by Mr. Tobias S. Nason, hauled there many years ago 
and occupied by James Larrabee, by whom it was sold to Horace 
Porter and occupied awhile by his son-in-law, George W. Hardy, 
afterward sold to Nason, by whom it was enlarged and improved, 
the Baptist church and vestry, and the parsonage house of the Sec- 
ond Congregational Society, which was built by Samuel Mitchell 
and occupied by him until his removal to the Eastern Depot, by 
him sold to Joseph Dane, Jr., who resided there awhile, and sold 
by him to the above-named society, — on the land now divided into 
these several lots, in 1820 there were only two buildings, the law 
office of George W. Wallingford, now a tenement house on Water 



336 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Street, and a dwelling-house built by John H. Bartlett, which was 
sold by his heirs to Loammi N. Kimball and removed to the avenue 
now called Bourne Street. 

Next is the "Long House," as it was in former days designated. 
The land on which it stands was purchased, in 1788, of James Kim- 
ball by Benjamin Brown, who sold it in 1793 to William Jefferds 
and Stephen Tucker, together with the dwelling-house standing 
thereon. The main building, therefore, was built by Brown between 
the years 1788 and 1796. Tucker took possession at once of the 
western half part and added an L for a tailor's shop, a part of which 
is now standing in its original position and a part has been removed 
to the rear of the house and is used as a shed. Jefferds and Tucker, 
jointly, built a barn. Jefferds held his moiety three years, during a 
portion of which time Samuel Emerson lived there. Jefferds deeded 
his part to Capt. John Grant, January i, 1799. A story and a half 
L was added by Captain Grant which, at different times, was occu- 
pied by Miss Anna Grant as a private schoolroom, and by the Misses 
Sarah and Anna Grant as a millinery store. Grant's half part of 
the main house was sold by his heirs to N. L. Thompson. Norris 
N. Wiggin purchased the L part and moved it to or near the Currier- 
Nason house lot on the old Saco road, which he owned. The 
western moiety was sold by Tucker's heirs to Richard C. Raynes 
and occupied for many years by his widow. Mr. Tucker was much 
respected; he was of a lively temperament, always ready to give a 
joke or make a repartee. He was an amateur gardener and was 
very successful in the cultivation of vegetables. Probably up to his 
time his garden had been unequaled in this vicinity for extent as 
well as the excellence of its management. He was, without doubt, 
the first person in town to raise early vegetables and plants for the 
market. 

Capt. Abraham Hill's house was built later than 1820 by Mrs. 
Abigail Grant. 

The next lot, now owned and occupied by Nathan Dane, Jr., is 
one of considerable historic interest. It was improved at an early 
day — several years prior to 1750 — by Thomas Cousens, a son of 
the pioneer Ichabod, who built a small house on the westerly corner 
of the lot. It was probably of little value. Theodore Lyman built 
a store near the center of the lot, about 1770, and traded there sev- 
eral years. He was a buyer and seller of real estate in the vicinity 
(although he never owned the lot on which his store was located), 
and v.^as largely concerned, for the time, in navigation and in buying 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 337 

and selling lumber. The five large elms in front of Mr. Dane's and 
Mrs. Hilton's houses were set out, when so small as to be handled 
by one person, by Mr. Lyman and James Kimball, who was the 
owner of the land, on the nineteenth day of April, 1775, the day so 
memorable in our national history. Mr. Lyman removed to the 
Landing in 1776 or 1777. The store building was sold to William 
Taylor, and by him moved on to "the Hill"; it occupied part of 
the lot on which Hartley Lord's house stands. Nathaniel Frost 
purchased the lot (of the same dimensions as at present) in March, 
1799, and erected the same year the house now standing there. 
Shortly after he built a store near his dwelling-house, occupying 
very nearly the lot on which Thomas Cousens's house stood. The 
partnership between Frost and William Hackett was dissolved in 
1809, the latter continuing the business at the old stand, and the 
former, in his new building, opening a store for the sale of general 
merchandise, also drugs, and medicines. Frost died in 181 7, and 
since that date the store has had many different occupants. Daniel 
Sewall had an office there, Moses Varney a shoe shop and sales- 
room, Edward Gould a hatter's shop and salesroom, Aaron Greene 
a schoolroom, and no doubt others occupied it. It was purchased 
by Charles Herrick, moved to the eastern side of Fletcher Street, 
and occupied by him as a shoe shop, later by a marble worker, and 
afterward by Charles C. Perkins as a provision store. The building 
was moved to the western side of the street in 1887. 

Nathaniel Frost came to this town about 1790 and opened a 
country store at the lower end of the village, near the mills; he was 
genial, active and enterprising, and soon became a popular, useful 
and enterprising citizen. He built the store opposite the First 
Parish Meeting-house about 1793 and the dwelling-house on the 
Lyman lot in 1799, in which year he was married to Abigail, daugh- 
ter of James Kimball. He was prominent in military affairs and 
was an excellent officer. After his death his widow removed to 
Cambridge, Mass. The children of Nathaniel and Abigail Frost 
were: John, graduated at Harvard, 1822 ; Nathaniel, who studied 
divinity, was a chaplain in the United States Navy and died while 
holding this position; Cyrus, who was an engraver on wood and 
became a resident of Philadelphia; Sarah Elizabeth, who never mar- 
ried ; Mary Ann, who married a Captain Dow, of Keene, N. H., a 
gentleman of considerable wealth. 

The Frost house was occupied by Thomas Drew a few years 
and he was succeeded by William B. Sewall. The estate was sold 



338 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

in 1818 to Joseph Storer, and was occupied by his brother-in-law, 
Charles Cutts, then Secretary of the United States Senate, until his 
removal to New Hampshire. Storer, in 1832, sold the property to 
Isaac Lord, of Effingham, N. H., and it was occupied by his son 
James until his removal to Massachusetts. Lord sold to Noah 
Nason; subsequently Nason sold to Nicholas E. Smart and his son- 
in-law, William Simonds ; later the property was devised by Mrs. 
N. E. Smart to the present proprietor. 

The dwelling-house on the adjoining lot was built in 1795, by 
James Kimball, Jr. (Kimball married Sarah Kimball in 1796 and 
Sally Goodwin, of Somersworth, N. H., in 1810.) He resided there 
until 1815, when he sold it to Joseph Dane, Sr., who occupied it 
thenceforth until his death; his widow resided there until her death, 
in 1872. It was subsequently purchased by Mr. Hartley Lord and 
occupied by Mrs. Isaac Hilton, and has been greatly improved in 
outward appearance. In a preceding chapter we have given 
some interesting details respecting this house, the store on the 
corner of Main and Dane Streets and the blacksmith's shop which 
formerly stood in the rear of the store lot. 

The next building was moved to its present location by John 
Roberts, who purchased it of Samuel Clark and removed it from 
the vicinity of the bridge, where it had been occupied by Charles A. 
Condy as a country store. 

Next to this is the building erected by Enoch Hardy in 18 10. 
The upper and part of the lower floor were improved by him as a 
tobacco manufactory for many years. Davenport Tucker, son of 
Stephen, kept a country store on part of the lower floor from 18 10 
to 1818 ; he disposed of his stock in trade, at auction, in the spring 
of the year last named and removed to Lubec, having been 
appointed by Mr. Thacher to a position in the custom house there. 
Owen Burnham occupied the store after the building he had ten- 
anted on the opposite side of the street had been burned, in 1824; 
he vacated it a few years afterward, when it was improved by the 
owner as a salesroom for his manufactures, and, in connection with 
his son, Enoch, Jr., for the sale of groceries. The post office was 
kept in this room two or three years, George W. Hardy, postmaster. 
The building was purchased by Andrew Walker, in 1857, and occu- 
pied by him, chiefly as a furniture store, until 1888, when he gave 
it to the Free Library Association. 

The brick building on the adjoining lot was erected by WiUiam 
Lord in 1825. It has had many different occupants: Lord & 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 339 

Kingsbury (William Lord and Henry Kingsbury), William C. and 
William F. Lord, William C. Lord and George Ross, Simon L. 
Whitten, as a tailor's shop and salesroom ; James N. Nason, coun- 
try store, and Tobias G. Nason & Co. The upper floor was occu- 
pied (in part) by Increase G. Kimball, as a lawyer's office, when he 
commenced practice as an attorney; he remained there a few months 
only. The Salus Lodge of Good Templars has held its meetings 
there a number of years. The present owners of the building are 
William E. and Charles E. Barry, grandchildren of the builder. 

The next building was erected by Nathaniel Frost about 1793 
and was occupied by him as a country store; later by Frost & 
Hackett (Nathaniel Frost and William Hackett). This copartner- 
ship was dissolved in 1809, when Frost commenced trade in his 
new store. Hackett continued at the old stand; he also engaged 
in navigation at this time. Later he removed to Limerick and 
opened a store in the village, where he was very successful ; he had 
a good local trade, bought large quantities of lumber, grain and 
products of the dairy, which he sent by ox-teams to Kennebunk and 
Kennebunkport, and disposed of readily at satisfactory prices. He 
retired from business and returned to Kennebunk in 1837, occupy- 
ing the Taylor house on Green Street, then the Hardy house on 
Summer Street, which he purchased and afterward sold to Capt. 
William Williams; he then purchased the Greenough house, on the 
corner of Park and Dane Streets, which he occupied until the time 
of his death. Mr. Hackett married Lydia Dutch. He died in 1864 
and was buried with Masonic honors. He was an upright man, a 
good citizen, a well-wisher to all, an enemy to none. Few men pass 
away from the earth leaving a more enviable record than did Mr. 
Hackett. He left three children: William, who was a grocer in 
Worcester, Mass., Nancy, wife of N. L. Thompson (both now 
deceased), and Mary Hudson, who survives. 

Shortly after the store was vacated by Mr. Hackett, in 183 1, it 
was opened by James K. Remich with a stock of books, stationery 
and wall papers, which he sold at retail and wholesale, the first of 
this description in Kennebunk. He relinquished this branch of his 
business in 1842, when the stand was taken by Daniel Remich, and 
the business was continued by him until 1868, when he sold his 
stock in trade to George W. Oakes, who was succeeded by Mrs. 
Oakes, then by Mrs. Elizabeth Chesley, and she by William H, 
Simonds & Co., crockery and groceries, who remained there but a 
year or two. The upper floor was not occupied until 1809, when it 



340 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

was leased to James K. Remich, and by him improved as a printing 
office from that date until 1850; the printing apparatus was not 
entirely removed from the room until 1880. From 1794 until 1809 
this room was occasionally used as a hall for public entertainments. 
During this period one Joseph Baker usually made annual visits to 
the village, remaining here five or six weeks each time, giving two 
or three exhibitions of legerdemain as well as readings, serious, 
tragic and comic. He was accustomed, at each of these visits, to 
form a class of gentlemen, select a play acceptable to its members, 
and drill them to "act well their parts" in its public performance, 
the net receipts derived from the exhibition inuring to the benefit of 
Mr. Baker. These plays were extremely popular, well attended and 
thoroughly enjoyed. Mr. James Osborn, Sr., once related to the 
author the following amusing incident : According to the pro- 
gramme on one of these occasions, at a certain point in the play 
one of the dramatis personce (Mr. O.) was killed at the finale of an 
angry colloquy. As he fell, the curtain fell also, but owing to an 
error in judgment in regard to the positions of the actors Mr. O. 
was outside the curtain. Discovering this untoward occurrence, he 
gained the inside of the screen with a celerity of movement which, 
considering he had so recently fallen a victim to the murderous act 
of his enemy, drew forth unbounded applause from the auditors. 
"Ah," said the old gentleman in conclusion, "those were happy, 
happy days." Mr. Remich sold the building in 18S9 to Sidney T. 
Fuller, who converted it into a double tenement. 

The next store was built by Palmer Walker in 1818. The 
upper and a part of the lower floor were used by him for a saddler's 
shop and a salesroom. The store on the lower floor was first occu- 
pied by Joseph M. Hayes, dry goods, who removed to Saco, after- 
ward by Lord & Kingsbury, and later by Joseph G. Moody. The 
building subsequently became the property of Andrew Walker, who 
lessened somewhat the dimensions of the store and converted the 
remainder into two tenements. 

We come now to the eastern end of Main Street and to the 
entrance to Green Street. This was laid out about 1800 by William 
Taylor, who built at the same time the dwelling-house now owned 
by the heirs of Lemuel Richards. Taylor lived there a few years, 
as did Timothy Frost, Barnabas Palmer, Asa Taylor, William 
Hackett, Beriah Green, Robert Smith (machinist) and perhaps 
others. Dr. Richards finally became its owner. The house on the 
eastern side of this street, for many years in possession of Phineas 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 341 

Stevens and now of his heirs, we think was built at a later date 
than 1820, by Samuel B. Lord. Jacob Stewart's house, near to it, 
was moved there within recent years and was the Jacob Kimball 
house on Portland Street. 

We now turn back and standing on the spot where, in 1679, 
the "lot layers" of Wells commenced the work of laying out a high- 
way, six rods wide, above the boom belonging to the Mousam Mills 
and at "a stake drove down there near to a little old house upon 
the said land" (built by Sayward less than ten years previously 
near the location of Mrs. J. W. Sargent's house), and so down by 
the mills to Rand's Marsh, we note the changes up to 1820. No 
traces of that boom nor of these mills are to be found. The precise 
points at which the river was crossed, by the old or new "wading 
places," cannot be shown. A short distance down river a good 
bridge is seen, in close proximity to which, northerly, stands a large, 
old-style saw-mill, and across the bridge, southerly, a well-appointed, 
old-style grist-mill. Turning around, we notice, on the northeastern 
side of the road laid out in 1692, from Coxhall to old Mousam, "for 
the conveniency to transport to the salt water," two dwelling-houses, 
the larger considered a palatial residence when erected, about 1760, 
and two or three rods beyond the smaller building, erected in 1757 
for a dwelling-house and store, both built by Joseph Storer, Sr. 
Opposite the mansion house, across the road, was a large orchard. 
It is said there was a dwelling-house, which stood nearly opposite 
Mechanic Street, that had been hauled from the vicinity of Middle 
Mousam Mills, which was occupied by Nathaniel and Anthony Lit- 
tlefield, employees of Storer. Beyond this, as far up as the junction 
of the new road with the old, leading to the interior, there were no 
buildings. At present, the entire length of the road, within the 
bounds that we have been considering, is well lined with handsome 
residences, besides which two short streets, running from Storer 
Street (the old road) traversely to the river, afford building lots 
upon which neat and commodious dwellings have been erected. 

Moving from the standpoint above named, we cross the Cox- 
hall-Mousam road and pass along that leading from the old "Mousam 
Mill Pond, as the road now goes (1765), down to the country road 
at the Heath (Landing), four rods wide from the mill road to the 
country road." 

The house on Garden Street occupied for many years by Dr. 
Orin Ross and later by his widow was built about iSoo by William 



342 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Gillpatrick. He kept a stock of general merchandise in the Richard 
Gillpatrick store. 

Standing on the adjoining lot was the Capt. John Grant store, 
erected about 1785. Grant traded there several years, when the 
building was finally removed to Water Street, where it was improved 
as a tenement house. John Cobby built the store now standing on 
the Grant lot. Norris N. Wiggin was its first occupant. He traded 
there for two or three years in general merchandise. Cobby suc- 
ceeded him, continuing in trade until his death. George P. Lowell 
occupied the building for a time as a confectionery store and bakery. 
Later it was again used as a meat market and general provisions. 

The building now occupied by William Fairfield was erected by 
Joseph Parsons as early as 1797, perhaps a year or two prior to this 
date. We find no other reference to him than that he built this 
house and store under one roof and at one time was a trader here. 
We may infer that he had a family from the manner in which the 
building was constructed, arranged for a dwelling on the upper and 
a store on the lower floor. He did not remain here a long time. 
That John U. Parsons was related to him we have reason to believe 
from the fact that he was his agent for the sale of the property, 
which was sold to Edmund Pierson in 1809. Pierson sold to Ralph 
Curtis and Curtis to Fairfield. It is a remarkable structure so far 
as regards its frame ; the sills and plates were of timber one foot 
square and the corner posts were secured at the corners by oak 
knees, precisely after the fashion employed in ship work. 

We entertain no doubt as to the correctness of our statement 
respecting the name of the builder of the last-named and of Grant's 
store, but it would be extremely difficult at this day, without a great 
deal of research, to give the names of the intermediate occupants. 

The adjoining lot was formerly owned by Capt. George Perkins, 
on which he erected a building which was used as a store. Mr. 
Perkins sold this place to Nathaniel Shute in 1809. Mr. Shute im- 
proved the lower floor, where he carried on his business as a saddler, 
and probably occupied it as a dwelling place also. The upper floor 
was leased in whole or in part to Elisha Chadbourne. Mr. Shute 
had taken up his residence here about four years before purchasing 
this piece of property. He married Elizabeth Smith, of Exeter, N. H., 
in 1806 ; she died in 1810, and he married again two years later. In 
1842 Ralph Curtis moved this building a few rods back, in what is 
known as Curtis's Court; it was then fitted up and it has since been 
leased for a dwelling-house and on its old location now stands the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 343 

"Beam House" of the "Scotchman's Brook" tannery, moved there that 
same year by Mr. Curtis. This building is now owned by his son, Mr. 
Fuller Curtis, for rental. The front room is occupied as a store, while 
the rear of the building and the upper floor are used as a tenement. 

The dwelling-house occupied by Christopher Littlefield was 
built by Capt. George Perkins. He shortly removed to his farm on 
the Alfred road. (A biographical sketch of Captain Perkins will be 
found in another chapter.) Ebenezer Curtis purchased the house 
and fitted up the lower floor of the eastern half part for a grocery 
store. Subsequently the property was purchased by William Lord, 
Jr., by whom alterations and improvements were made, among which 
was the restoration of the store part to the use for which it was orig- 
inally designed. 

The building which until a recent date was occupied by George 
E. Littlefield as a carpenter shop, now converted into a store and 
dwelling, stands on the eastern part of the original George Perkins 
lot. Stephen Furbish had a blacksmith's shop there, which was 
removed to Portland Street ; Joseph Thomas's law office, which after 
his death was improved awhile by Daniel Sewall, stood there many 
years ; it was removed to the western end of the triangular lots, and 
improved as a store for the sale of small wares by a Mrs. Watts, and 
by others as a dwelling. Theodore Webber built a store and house 
under one roof, on the site from which Thomas's ofiice was removed, 
where he traded and his family resided a few years. It was sold 
and removed to Fletcher Street and later became the dwelling-house 
of A. W. Mendum. This site and the building standing upon it are 
now the property of G. E. and W. L. Littlefield. 

The tenement house owned by John Cousens was originally the 
store of Joseph Moody and stood on the lot opposite the residence 
of James M. Stone, on the Landing road. It stands on the western 
part of a lot purchased of the Storers, in 1793, by Caleb Burbank, 
who erected thereon a blacksmith's shop, which he operated a few 
years, and also on the eastern half part the dwelling-house now 
owned and occupied by John Cousens, by whom, however, it has 
been considerably enlarged. We are not able to say whether the 
house was ever occupied by Burbank. An aged lady, who well 
remembered the building of the house and who was quite sure that 
"she spoke whereof she knew," assured us that " Burbank lived and 
died a bachelor." We find that in 1794 legal notice that "Caleb 
Burbank and Sarah Littlefield, both of Wells, intend marriage" was 



344 HISTORY OF KEXXEKUXK. 

duly "published," but find no evidence that the intention was ful- 
filled. 

After residing here ten or twelve years, Burbank sold his entire 
village property to John U. Parsons. The blacksmith shop was 
converted into a store and Mr. Parsons traded there several years. 
It is not* improbable that when he first came here he succeeded 
Joseph Parsons in the (present) Fairfield store, and about 1809 
moved thence into his newly fitted up building, where he continued 
until VVaterston, Pray & Co. removed to Boston, when he succeeded 
them in the occupancy of the brick store. Soon after this the store 
which had been occupied by Parsons was sold and moved to the 
west side of the river, where it was known for many years as the 
"Simon Ross house." (Simon Ross married Jane Hooper, grand- 
daughter of Capt. George Perkins, February 17, 1805.) 

Joseph G. Moody purchased the Burbank-Parsons house and 
resided there until he took up his residence in Augusta. (Mr. 
Moody married Elizabeth Cogswell, eldest daughter of Jacob M. 
Currier, of Dover, N. H., November 26, 1826.) To the lot made 
vacant by the removal of the Parsons store, he moved his father's 
store, and traded there several years. He was succeeded in 1835 
by Andrew Walker, furniture and groceries, who removed to the 
Hardy store in 1857. Afterward the post office was kept here a 
number of years, and was removed hence to its present location. 
The building is now utilized as a tenement house. Moody sold this 
property to John Cousens, whose heirs occupy the dwelling-house. 

April I, 1795, Benjamin Silsbee bought forty feet square of 
land adjoining Burbank's land and opposite Brown's house. He 
erected a store thereupon the following summer. On account of 
failing health he relinquished business about eighteen months later, 
and sold his store and lot to Burbank in 1797. Silsbee, while suf- 
fering from temporary insanity, committed suicide by hanging him- 
self. He was a widower. He left one son, Samuel, who proved to 
be an active business man. 

The Silsbee store was occupied, in part, several years by Joseph 
M. Stickney and Enoch Hardy, tobacconists; the other part, from 
1803 to 1807, was improved as a printing office; first by John 
Whitelock, followed by Stephen Sewall, then by William Weeks. 
Stickney married Olive Parsons, of Phillipsburg, in April, 1806, and 
left town a few months later. Hardy continued to carry on the 
tobacconist's business, built a store and transferred his stock to it 
in 18 10; he purchased the Silsbee store and moved it a short dis- 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 



345 



tance west of the site of the John G. Downing house on Summer 
Street. 

The dwelling-house owned by Mrs. John Hill and occupied, 
one-half part by her and the other by Andrew Walker, was built in 
1797 by Stephen Furbish, who dwelt there four or five years. Mr. 
Parsons owned a house on the Landing road, which was built by 
one Abraham Witham a few years previously, which he proposed to 
exchange for this, and tempted Mr. Furbish with so good an offer 
that he accepted it. Parsons married Mrs. Susanna Savary, of New- 
buryport, in February, 1804, and moved into this house. Furbish 
having taken possession of that on the Landing road. This exchange 
gave to Mr. Parsons the ownership of all the front land from the 
Perkins to the eastern boundary of the Furbish lot. In 1814 Par- 
sons built the house now owned and occupied by Edward E. Bourne 
and moved into it the same year. Mrs. Parsons died about six 
months afterward, July 3, 1815. This house was built in all par- 
ticulars, size, interior and exterior finish, after the plans used in the 
erection of the house in which Mrs. Parsons dwelt in Newburyport, 
and which v/as destroyed in the "great fire " in that town, a few years 
prior to her removal to this place. Daniel Sewall purchased the 
house in 1816, and dwelt there the remainder of his lifetime. His 
son and successor, William Bartlett Sewall, also spent the last days 
of his life there, as did his widow, Mrs. Maria M. Sewall, who at her 
death devised it to her nephew, Edward E. Bourne, Jr. 

The next lot was purchased by Peter Folsom July 10, 1799, and 
he erected a shop and dwelling under the same roof in 1 799-80. After 
Folsom died Palmer Walker continued the saddler's business in this 
shop until 18 1 8, when he removed to his new building. The prop- 
erty came into possession of Joseph Thomas, by whose widow it was 
occupied a number of years. After her death the building was taken 
down and the lot purchased by and divided between the owners of 
the adjacent lands. 

Joseph Porter bought the next lot in 1802, and put up a build- 
ing the following year, one-half part of which was improved as a tin 
shop and the other as a dwelling. He carried on the tin business 
prosperously. A few years later he purchased the Hemenway house 
on (now) Summer Street, to which he removed at once, and also 
built a shop a few rods west of it. The building first occupied was 
sawn in two, and the western half part occupied as a dwelling-house 
by his son Horace for many years. When he sold it, it was 
removed to Brown Street and is now the property of Miss Angle 



346 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Fernald. On its site Mr. Porter erected the dwelling-house after- 
ward occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Clara L. Hardy. The other 
half part was moved eastward two or three rods and fitted up for a 
dwelling. It was occupied awhile by Joshua Tolford, jeweler, who 
came to this town from Portland and returned to that town after 
residing here about two years. It was purchased by Palmer Walker. 
It was burned in 1824. Mr. Walker built a larger and more desir- 
able dwelling on the site thus made vacant, which he occupied until 
his death, in 1878. It is now the property of Col. Charles R. Little- 
field, by whom it has been greatly improved interiorly and exteriorly. 

John H. Bartlett bought the adjacent lot in 1804 and put up a 
large dwelling-house, together with a barn and outbuildings, the same 
year. Mr. Bartlett was a farmer and purchased farming lands near 
the village ; he was industrious and enterprising. On the night of 
the third of August, 1824, all his buildings were destroyed by fire, 
which originated in his barn, and which caused the destruction of 
several other buildings in the vicinity. He replaced these buildings 
the following season, which after his death were purchased by Dr. 
Elbridge G. Stevens, by whom they were greatly improved. Mr. 
Stephen Perkins afterward owned and occupied this property. Mr. 
Bartlett came to this town from Shapleigh. 

The next lot was purchased of the Storers by Daniel Hodsdon 
and Jamin Savage in 1807. They erected a three-story building; 
the first floor a warehouse, the second a cabinet maker's shop, the 
third for painters and the storing of valuable lumber required in 
the manufacture of furniture. They were active business men and 
quite successful for awhile. Savage withdrew from the copartner- 
ship and Edward White took his place. The building was burned 
in 1824. Oliver Bartlett put up a dwelling and bake-house, under 
one roof, on its site. Bartlett sold to Oliver Raitt, who made sev- 
eral alterations and improvements. He did not occupy it more than 
two or three years; then he sold it to Mrs. Martha Hartwell, whose 
heirs held and utilized it as a dwelling and a millinery store. They 
sold the building to George L. Little in 1890. It was occupied by 
his son-in-law, George W. Frost. 

The next building was a large brick store, erected by Waters- 
ton, Pray & Co. in 181 2. The first and second floors were improved 
as salesrooms, and the third as a Masonic lodge room. Waterston 
& Pray removed to Boston in 181 7, when John U. Parsons & Co. 
(Parsons and his son-in-law, Moses Savary) succeeded them. Mr. 
Parsons was compelled soon after, by ill health, to relinquish busi- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 347 

ness. He removed to Parsonsfield, his native town. Mr. Parsons 
was much respected. He was a graduate of Harvard and was an 
excellent scholar. All movements for the intellectual progress of 
the community always found in him an interested and efficient sup- 
porter. He was elected by the voters of York County to represent 
them in the State Senate. The building was seriously damaged by 
fire in 1824, but the walls were left standing in fair condition. The 
property was sold to Isaac Lord, of Effingham, N. H., by whom the 
store was rebuilt. The eastern half part of the lower floor was 
occupied by his sons, James and Isaac Lord, general merchandise, 
and the western half part by Barnabas Palmer, who kept the post 
office there. On the second floor were the law offices of Edward E. 
Bourne and William B. Sewall. Afterward Mr. Bourne was suc- 
ceeded by his son Edward and James M. Stone, copartners. On 
the organization of the Ocean Bank, Mr. Sewall removed his office 
to his dwelling-house, in order that that institution might be located 
in his convenient and pleasant room. An "annex" to the "old 
brick" was put up by Daniel Wise., Jr., the end fronting Main Street 
of brick, the remainder of wood. Mr. Wise formed a copartnership 
with John W. Bodwell, and opened a store for the sale of general 
merchandise. The upper floor of the "old brick" was already 
improved by the Odd Fellows, and the upper floor of the "annex" 
was taken by the Masons, who since the fire had held their meet- 
ings a few times in Washington Hall, and afterward in the chamber 
over Hardy's store. Wise & Bodwell dissolved copartnership about 
a year later. Wise, who was not partial to the occupation, relin- 
quished it a year or two later. The building was then sold to 
Jonathan Stone, of Kennebunkport, who converted the "annex" into 
a public house, the " Mousam House." It was a well-arranged and 
well-kept establishment, but Mr. Stone's health would not permit him 
to perform the duties of landlord, and within two years from the date 
of assuming them he relinquished the business and returned to his 
native town, where he died May 29, 1839, aged forty-seven years. 
Simon L. Whitten and his father-in-law, Mr. Hinds, who came from 
Portland, succeeded Mr. Stone in the management of the hotel, but 
after remaining here about two years Mr. Hinds thought that he pre- 
ferred Portland to Kennebunk, so returned to that city. Mr. Whitten 
could not add to the cares incident to his regular business those of 
innkeeper, and he also retired. They were succeeded by Benjamin 
F. Goodwin, who in connection with his father, Hosah Goodwin, 
who had the contract for carrying the mails to and from the Eastern 



348 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Depot, which was done in a passenger coach, made the establish- 
ment both popular and prosperous. 

Again on December third, 1869, the flames swept through the 
walls of the "old brick," but this time with more disastrous conse- 
quences than before. It was left a mass of ruins. The fire origi- 
nated in a small building in the rear of Junkins's shop, which was 
burned, thence spreading to the brick store, which was also destroyed. 
The bank building now occupies a part of the lot on which it stood. 
The "Osborn store" has been removed to this lot and is improved 
on the lower floor as a grocery store, and on the upper floor is the 
hall of the Webster Post, Grand Army of the Republic. 

There was a small building which stood east of the "old brick" 
many years ago, probably moved there, but by whom or when we 
cannot learn. In this, Seaver, Palmer & Co. opened a store, general 
merchandise (Josiah W. Seaver, of South Berwick, special partner, 
Barnabas Palmer and Harford, active partners) ; the former and 
the latter retired a year or two later. Palmer continued the business 
and removed to another building. He was succeeded by Moses 
Varney, morocco shoes ; he by Alexander Warren and William M. 
Bryant, copartners, medicines and restaurant; this firm by Owen 
Burnham, general merchandise. This building was burned in 1824. 
Mr, Burnham removed to the Hardy store. The Masons had re- 
moved to the Kelley & Warren block previous to the date of this fire. 

Elisha Chadbourne had a blacksmith's shop in the rear of the 
old brick, access to which was on Fletcher Street; burned in 1824. 
Mr. Chadbourne did not rebuild on this lot, but sold it to Humphrey 
Chadbourne and Paul Junkins, copartners, who put up a large build- 
ing for a salesroom and the manufacture of furniture. Abial Kelley, 
Jr., at one time occupied a part of the lower floor as a store, general 
merchandise; he moved to the Eastern Depot. The fire of 1869 
destroyed this building. Mr. Junkins had passed away two years 
before the fire (August 24, 1867), and after the loss of the building 
Mr. Chadbourne left town. 

We cross the "new road," as it was designated for many years, 
which was laid out in 1797, commencing at Osborn's Corner and 
terminating near P. C. Wiggin's homestead, where it intersects the 
old road ; the old road is now Storer Street, the new, Fletcher Street. 

Very near the commencement of Fletcher Street (eastern side) 
was the Safford property. Two buildings had been moved on to 
the lot, at different times, as early we think as 1798 and 1800. The 
deed of the land "on which said Safford's house and shop now 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 349 

Stand" is dated June 26, 18 12. He must have had a lease or bond 
for a deed many years prior to this date. Safford was married to 
Lois Knowlton, of Ipswich, Mass., February 7, 1801. It is beyond 
question that Mr. Safford established himself here two or three 
years before his marriage, and that the shop building was moved to 
the spot where it stood so long that length of time before that which 
was converted into a dwelling was moved and joined to it, and that 
these buildings were the first on the "new road." The Herrick shop 
(formerly Frost's) was moved to a vacant spot at the northern end 
of Safford's lot several years ago. All the Safford property, includ- 
ing Herrick's shop, was purchased by James Osborn, Jr., and was 
included in the sale to Sidney T. Fuller, by Osborn's heirs, in 1886. 
Mr. Fuller moved the store, as before stated, moved the house back 
several feet and made extensive alterations on the building, the out- 
buildings and the adjacent grounds ; he tore down the Safford shop, 
converted the house into a barn, and moved the Herrick shop to 
the northerly corner of his lot on the westerly side of Fletcher Street. 

The Osborn house was built in 1792 and the store on the cor- 
ner about twenty years later. In the western corner of this house 
James Osborn, Jr., kept the post office from 1829 to 1S41. His 
father acted as assistant; both the postmaster and his assistant 
were capable, accurate and accommodating gentlemen. 

Next to Safford's, on the "new road," was a store built by 
Timothy Kezer in 1804 (a store on the lower floor and a dwelling 
on the upper), where he traded awhile, when he formed a copart- 
nership with Horace Porter, which was dissolved in 18 10. Kezer 
removed to the Landing and Porter continued in the shop as junior 
partner of the firm of Smith & Porter (Benjamin Smith and Horace 
Porter). After the death of Mr. Smith Mr. Porter retired and 
George W. Hardy continued the grocery business until his death. 
Mr. Kezer occupied the upper floor as a dwelling for about two 
years. It has since had many different occupants. Mr. George 
Parsons purchased the building, by whom it was removed to the 
western side of the street. A private school was kept on the second 
floor for a few terms by Miss Susie Hardy, which was afterward 
converted into a tenement; later the lower story was occupied for 
several years as a private school, taught by Miss Georgia Parsons. 
The dwelling-house on the northern part of the lot was erected by 
Kezer in 1806, occupied by him until his removal to the Landing, 
sold to Robert Waterston and occupied by him until his removal to 
Boston, sold to Jotham Perkins and occupied by him until his death 



350 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

in 1S30 (at the age of forty-nine years) and by his widow a few 
years later, sold to Oliver Raitt, who occupied it a short time, sold 
to George Parsons, by whom it was greatly improved as a summer 

residence his place of business and his winter home being in New 

York City — until 1889, when he sold it to Charles Goodnow. 

Daniel Hodsdon built the house owned by Benjamin Perkins, 
in 1809. Mr. Hodsdon married Agnes Knowlton, of Ipswich, Feb- 
ruary, 1810. Their children were: Daniel (physician. North Ber- 
wick), married, October 25, 1841, Mrs. Nancy Hobbs, of North 
Berwick; Olive P., married Asa S. Thorndlke, of Washington, Vt., 
and Cyrus. 

Near to this was a small house, erected by Mrs. Polly (Gillpat- 
rick) Nichols about 1804. It was sold at auction in November, 
1815. Joseph Thomas was the purchaser, by whom it was moved 
to the Capt. George Perkins lot at Scotchman's Brook. The dwell- 
ino- recently occupied by John Mitchell was originally the school- 
house in the sixth district, and stood very near the lot now covered 
by Mrs. Lancey Littlefield's dwelling-house on the Ross road. It 
was moved to its present location many years ago and was occupied 
a long time by the daughters and the son oi Samuel Hill, Sr. 
Mitchell purchased it and resided there until his death. 

The next house stands on the lot occupied for many years by 
the shoemaker's shop of Capt. Samuel Littleheld, Jr., and is a part 
of the land purchased of the Storers, by Theophilus Hardy, in 1806. 
Hardy was a tanner and erected a dwelling-house, now standing, 
and the several buildings required in the prosecution of his busi- 
ness. A considerable part of the space between the buildings and 
the brook was occupied with vats. The dwelling-house is all that 
remains of this once extensive establishment. Hardy formed a 
copartnership with Jotham Perkins in 1809. The partners were 
industrious, temperate, enterprising men and with sufficient means 
at their command to enable them to carry on a large business with- 
out incurring pecuniary embarrassment. We think the same may 
be said of all the tanners who have carried on business in this town. 
Until circumstances that could not be avoided or overcome rendered 
our location an ineligible one for its successful prosecution, the 
business was very remunerative. From 1800 to 1830 the tanneries 
were an important factor in the prosperity of the town. Perkins 
continued the business and in 18 15 formed a copartnership with 
Thomas B. Chamberlain. After the death of Perkins, Samuel Lit- 
tleheld purchased the whole establishment and carried on the busi- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 351 

ness awhile. He sold to Oliver Raitt, who came from Eliot, and it 
was operated by him, with fair results, for a few years. Raitt pur- 
chased considerable real estate in the village, but he was disap- 
pointed in his expectations; he sold his property here, in parcels, to 
different persons and returned to Eliot. The entire tannery prop 
erty was sold to George Parsons, by whom the vats were filled up 
and nearly all the buildings torn down. 

Crossing the brook and passing a long stretch of woodland, 
there was not another building until we reach the dwelling-house and 
extensive butchery establishment of Nathan Wiggin, erected by him 
in 1845. This is now the property of his son Parker, who in 1887 
moved the house to an adjoining lot, building on another L for the 
accommodation of two families. The following year Mr. Wiggin 
erected one of more modern architecture on the same site as the old, 
in which he resides. Within recent years the strip of woods bor- 
dering the road has gradually succumbed to the woodman's ax and 
a number of neat cottages have been built on the lots laid out. 

Next above Mr. Wiggin's is the house on the "Fletcher place," 
owned and occupied by Edwin Parsons, built about 1796 by 
Samuel Stevens, Jr., who married Hannah Hill in May, 1798. 
Stevens died at sea about 1801. The estate was sold to Rev. N. 
H. Fletcher, who purchased several lots of land in its immediate 
vicinity, making a farm of respectable dimensions. He also built 
a barn with all the then "modern improvements," by far the largest 
and most convenient that had been erected in this or the neigh- 
boring towns. Mr. Fletcher vacated this estate in 1827 ; it was sold 
to Nathaniel M. Towle and afterward purchased by Nathan Dane, Jr., 
who put the buildings in excellent repair; he sold to John Roberts, 
during whose ownership the barn built by Mr. Fletcher was burned. 
Mr. Roberts erected a new one on the same lot, and soon after sold 
the estate to Frank Perkins, on whose death it passed into the pos- 
session of Edwin Parsons. 

James Ridgway built a house on the adjoining lot. He was a 
house carpenter. His family consisted of two sons and a daugh- 
ter; one of his sons resided with him a few years; his daughter, 
Betsey, married Joseph Emmons, of Lyman. Ridgway, his wife and 
one son removed to some other town prior to 1809. 

Next above Ridgway's was the house of Samuel Hill. He 
also was a house carpenter, and, judging from notices of him that 
we have met with, a good workman and enterprising; he was much 
respected. He was master workman in the construction of several 



352 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

buildings in the village ; one of those now standing was the house 
of Phineas Cole, now the property of Dr. F. M. Ross ; another, the 
house owned by the heirs of Dr. Richards, and still another, the 
house owned by the heirs of Ralph Curtis, which he (Hill) built for 
his own occupancy and which, after his decease, was sold at auc- 
tion, purchased by Curtis and removed to its present location. Hill 
owned at one time the house belonging to the heirs of Mrs. Hewes. 
He had several daughters and one son, who was feeble-minded. 
Hill, Sr., was a major in the State Militia. 

Next above the last named, near the present location of Mr. 
Ivory Lord's dwelling, was the domicile of Reuben Hatch, a very 
comfortable structure, and occupied by him until his death. He mar- 
ried Olive Boothby in December, 1761. Mr. Hatch was one of the 
earliest settlers on that road. He had a barn in the vicinity of the 
house, and also a rude structure of logs which was used for a sheep 
pen. It was used two or more seasons, during the warm weather, 
for a schoolroom; the first of which we find any mention within the 
present territorial limits of District Number Five. He had a daugh- 
ter Martha, who married Joseph Young in December, 1788. We 
are told that Young lived with his father-in-law. Hatch. Young mar- 
ried for his second wife, in 1799, Mehitabel Murphy. By his first 
wife he had two sons. Jotham, the elder, married Hannah Sher- 
man in 1S07. He was killed by the bursting of a swivel on the 
Fourth of July, several years later. Thomas Eaton, a house car- 
penter, married Phebe Young, probably a sister to Joseph, in 1793. 
Eaton was a nice workman ; he contracted with the Second Parish 
in Wells, (now First in Kennebunk) to enlarge the meeting-house 
and to add a belfry in 1803, He appears to have been a very 
respectable man. Whether Eaton and his wife dwelt in the Hatch 
house, we are unable to say. We have traditions in great abun- 
dance, but discordant and unreliable, with very few well-founded 
facts. We think it is true that the Youngs lived in the Hatch house 
until it was demolished, about 1820. The family is now extinct here. 

Crossing the gully, which at one time extended across the road, 
we soon reach the dwelling-house of Mrs. David Drawbridge, which 
is the L part of the house erected by Capt. George Perkins in 1803 
or 1804. Ezra and George divided the real estate held by their 
father, which was situated on both sides of the road. Ezra retained 
the half part on the eastern side of the road, together with this L 
part. George took possession of the western half, together with the 
main building. This has stood for many years untenanted and 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 353 

dilapidated and generally known as "the black house." George 
Perkins, son of Captain George, married Mrs. Nancy (Morrison) Jef- 
ferds, February, 1827 ; he lived a year or two in the Daniel Durrell 
house, on west side of Mousam River, and in the Fletcher house 
while owned by N. M. Towle, then occupied his dwelling near 
Rand's Spring; he died at the residence of his son. 

We have here reached the northern boundary of the village 
district and retrace our steps, noting as we pass along whatever we 
may think of interest on the western side of the street. About half 
a dozen rods south of the gully we find the site of the dwelling of 
Ebenezer Rand, erected as early as 1742. Rand was the first settler 
on the Coxhall-Mousam road between Storer's and Cat Mousam 
Mill. We know very little of his history. The committee "to draw 
the pews in the gallery of the meeting-house," in 1773, assigned to 
Rand pew No. i in the first rank. In 1748 he bought seven acres 
of marsh land on the Mousam, which is to this day known as Rand's 
Marsh. A copy of the deed conveying this parcel of land may not 
be uninteresting. John Butland to Ebenezer Rand: "Seven acres 
of fresh meadow land, lying on the eastern side of Mousam River, 
butting against the land formerly granted to Robert Stuart, and at 
the upper end of it a white pine tree marked on four sides, which 
said seven acres was laid out by the lot layers for John Look on 
June 2, 1 7 15." April 3, 174S. Rand was a farmer and spent much 
time on his marsh purchase. He used to delight in telling stories 
about his dog, one of which was that he very frequently visited the 
marsh, where there was an otter with which he was on the best of 
terms; they would play together for hours. An accident happened 
to Rand's gun by which it was rendered useless ; it was a long time 
before he could raise the means with which to buy another. Otters, 
minks, musquash and beavers, as well as moose and deer, were 
abundant, but he was unable to obtain furs or venison, his chief 
dependence for funds and food. He left no child, — indeed it is not 
known that he was married, although the records show that he was 
"published" July 6, 1754, "Ebenezer Rand and Hepsibah Hatch." 
There is reason to believe, however, that they were never joined in 
Hymen's bands. Richard Shackley, a relative, lived with Rand 
several years and at his decease came into possession of his prop- 
erty. Shackley with his family resided there some time after Rand's 
death. He exchanged farms with Samuel B. Low, of Lyman, and 
moved there. Low, who was a cabinet maker and house carpenter, 
resided on the Rand place two or three years and then moved the 
house to the village, but to what location is not definitely known. 



354 



HISTORV OF KENNKP.UNK. 



The buildings on the west side of the Coxhall-Mousam road, 
between Rand's Spring and the northern terminus of the "new 
road," have been built within a few years. The dwelling-house 
owned by Mrs. Joseph T. Nason, on the corner of Fletcher and 
Mechanic Streets, was built by Abial Kelley, Jr. That on the oppo- 
side of Mechanic Street, the first one erected thereon, was built by 
Rufus Furbish in 1821-22. He sold it a few years afterward to 
Hosah Goodwin, by whom it was enlarged and the interior much 
improved. It is now in possession of his grandchild, Mrs. Margaret, 
widow of William C. Storer. Between the Furbish house and the 
"Heater," then so-called, in olden time was a lane, which now forms 
a part, or the whole, of Mechanic Street. On each side of this lane 
hazel bushes grew in great abundance; these annually produced a 
large crop of nuts, which were gathered by the boys and girls of the 
time. It was a favorite route for small boys who "played horse" to 
start from Osborn's Corner, go up street as far as this lane, turn into 
and pass through it, on to and down the old road to Garden Street, 
through this to and up Main Street "to the place begun at." This 
was "going round the square." 

Benaiah Littlefield built the second house on Mechanic Street, 
on its northwesterly corner, which has been greatly improved by his 
son, William L., the present owner and occupant. Buildings have 
been erected, from time to time, on this pleasant street until, at the 
present writing, only two or three lots remain unimproved. 

Next below Mrs. Storer's is the dwelling built by Dr. David D. 
Spear, which afterward became the property of Samuel Bragdon, 
and near to this the dwelling erected by Samuel Littlefield, Jr., now 
owned and occupied by his daughters. On the southerly side of 
Scotchman's Brook, in 18 10, Theophilus Hardy built a one-story 
house for his own occupancy, where he lived the remainder of his 
life and where his widow lived several years. It was sold to James 
Osborn, Jr., who resided there awhile and until his new house, on 
Portland Street, had been completed, when the Hardy house was 
moved and utilized as an L to the new and larger building. On the 
lot where stood the Hardy house are two small tenement houses, 
erected by the late Mrs. John Mitchell. Below this is the dwelling 
of A. W. Mendum, before noticed, and on the adjoining lot the 
dwelling-house of the late Samuel Mendum, built, we think, about 
1820 and occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Clark. Passing 
the lots and buildings before mentioned, we find ourselves back to 
Main Street. 



CHAPTER V. 

RESIDENCES AND BUILDINGS CONTINUED: DANE, ELM, PARK AND 
SUMMER STREETS. 

Upon arriving at the foot of Fletcher Street and crossing Main, 
we enter upon Dane Street. We have spoken in a previous chapter 
of the "white store," on its eastern corner, and of James Kimball 
Jr.'s blacksmith shop, which stood in the rear of it and on the site 
of which now stands the dwelling-house built by John T. Kimball 
since 1830, afterward sold to Capt. Jott S. Perkins and now the 
residence of Henry Durrell. Next is the Second Congregational 
Church, in close proximity to which is its vestry, and on the adjoin- 
ing lot is the parsonage house of the Methodist Society, the gift of 
Miss Sarah Burnham, who owned and occupied it for a few years- 
It was built many years ago, on the Ross road, and became the 
property of Barnabas Palmer, by whom it was moved to its present 
location. Next is a two-story double house, built by Mr. Palmer 
and afterward owned by the heirs of Capt. John Barker and by the 
heirs of Capt. George A. Webb. This brings us to Elm Street, near 
the northern corner of which stands a one-story building, built by 
the Kimball family, a century ago at least, on the Ross road; pur- 
chased by Mr. Palmer and by him moved to its present location, 
December 16 to 19, 1826. It is now owned by the heirs of Patrick 
Rice. On the opposite side of the street and fronting Green Street 
is the more modern residence owned and occupied jointly by the 
heirs of Patrick Rice and Edward Ward. This building stands on 
part of a parcel (between live and six acres) of land sold by James 
Kimball to Enoch Hardy, Daniel Hodsdon and Jamin Savage in 
October, 1807, bounded by the road, William Taylor (the lot on 
which the Huff and Webber house stands), Jacob Fisher (N. L. 
Thompson's homestead) and James Kimball, Jr. (excluding the 
Hemmenway lot), afterward Joseph Porter's homestead and now 
owned by Hartley Lord. It was part of a tract of land purchased 
by Kimball in 1797 of Thomas Cousens and is a part of the original 
mill lot of three hundred acres granted by the town of Wells to 
Henry Say ward in 1769. In order to facilitate the improvement 
of their acres as house lots, Hardy and his associates opened the 

355 



356 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

lane now Park Street and another at the west end of their lot, now 
Elm Street, and the connecting lane between these two. These 
passageways, connected, were known for many years as "Love 
Lane." We do not know the origin of this sobriquet. 

At the corner of Elm and Dane Streets is the house of Mrs. 
Mehitabel Nason, built by Edward Gould a few years after the 
laying out of the street. He sold to William Lord, Jr., and Lord to 
Daniel Nason, Jr. Next is the dwelling-house built by Isaac Fur- 
bish about the same time as that above named and now held by his 
heirs. Then comes the house of Mrs. Edward Stone, which formerly 
stood on that part of the Wells road leading from Boothby's Beach 
to Kennebunkport. It was purchased by Edward Greenough and 
moved to the site it now occupies; after his death it was occupied 
for a time by Charles Williams and then sold to William Hackett, 
and by his heirs sold to Capt. Edward Stone. On Park Street, front- 
ing Dane, is the high school building; beyond, on the southeast- 
erly side of the extension of Park, are several remarkably neat and 
prettily situated dwelling-houses, which have been erected within 
recent years. On the new street. Grove, leading from Main to Park, 
laid out in 1881, is the schoolhouse built for the accommodation of 
the Central Intermediate and Central Primary Schools. The north- 
ern side of this street is well covered with buildings, neat and com- 
modious. Four acres of " Barnard's pasture " was purchased by 
Benjamin Smith, many years ago, and the lot was long known as 
"Smith's field." The extension of Park Street and its vicinity 
occupies this ground, which has been given the title of " Centennial 
Hill," in commemoration of the pavilion erected there, within which 
were the dinner tables, July 4, 1876. 

Returning to Main Street, through Dane, we pass, on the west- 
ern side of the last-named, the house built by Charles W. Kimball, 
which later became the residence of Capt. William B. Nason; then 
the house formerly owned and occupied by Alexander Warren, and 
which after his death became the property of his daughter, Mary 
Warren. Oliver Bartlett purchased the lot on which this house 
stands about 1825 and put up a barn and the house frame, all of 
which he sold to Samuel Mendum in 1S28; Mendum afterward sold 
to Warren, who finished the house and dwelt there the remainder of 
his lifetime. The third dwelling has been built within recent years, 
by George A. Gillpatrick, who occupies it. 

Arriving at the head of Dane Street and turning to the right on 
Main we soon come to the Unitarian Church, which stands on the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 357 

eastern corner of Main and Portland Streets, and opposite, on the 
western corner of Summer and Portland Streets, is the Town Hall. 
On the site of this hall, for one-third part of a century, stood the 
blacksmith's shop of James Kimball. About 1800 Mr. Kimball 
moved his shop to the lot now occupied by the dwelling-house of 
Mrs. William Williams, for the purpose of providing an eligible site 
for a public hall, which was erected there, jointly, by Parker Web- 
ster and James Kimball, about 1805. There were two stores on the 
lower floor, and on the second floor was a well-arranged public hall, 
with anterooms, etc. The length of the building was sixty-three 
feet. Here, from time to time, orations and lectures were delivered, 
religious and political meetings held, schools kept, shows in great 
variety exhibited, to all of which must be added dancing schools and 
assemblies. When first built it was called "Webster's Hall," after- 
ward "Assembly Hall," but about 18 12 and thenceforward it was 
known as "Washington Hall." The stores had many different occu- 
pants; in that at the western end were, at different times, William 
Hackett, Nathaniel Littlefield, Enos Hoag, Hoag & Moody (Joseph 
G.) and Barnabas Palmer, who kept the post office there a short 
time, each of whom had a fair stock of goods and did a remunerative 
business; in that at the eastern end were Timothy Frost, Thomas 
Bramley, Samuel L. Osborn, Charles W. Williams and Charles Her- 
rick. The western half part of the building was sold by Webster to 
John Skeele, October 18, 1823, and Skeele sold to Phineas Stevens 
November thirteenth of the same year. Stevens shortly afterward 
put up an addition to the building, the lower floor of which he 
improved as a jeweler's shop, and the upper floor was occupied by 
Edward E. Bourne as a law office and for a few years as the select- 
men's ofiice. The building was destroyed by fire on November 
26, 1866; many valuable papers, records and law books belonging 
to the town were also consumed. 

The town voted, April 27, 1S67, to erect a Town Hall, the 
lower floor to be used for town meetings, selectmen's ofiice, etc, 
and the upper floor for a citizens' hall, — lectures, exhibitions and 
all the uses to which such rooms are usually devoted, — on the site 
of the structure which had been swept away by the flames. The 
sum of five thousand dollars was raised by loan for this purpose and 
a building committee appointed. In February following an addi- 
tional sum of three thousand eight hundred dollars was raised. The 
building was erected in 1867-8. It was built of brick, with a slate 
roof. Its cost was fourteen thousand two hundred dollars, includ- 



358 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

ing the lot. Of this sum the town paid eight thousand eight hun- 
dred dollars and individuals subscribed five thousand four hundred 
dollars. The expenses attendant upon the furnishing of the upper 
hall, amounting to about sixteen hundred and fifty dollars, were also 
defrayed by individual subscriptions. The building was dedicated 
with the usual ceremonies in the fall of 1868. To the upper hall 
was given the title of " Mousam Hall." The participants of these 
exercises, as speakers, were Joseph Titcomb, James M. Stone, 
Edward E. Bourne, Jr., and Daniel Remich. 

The building owned and occupied by Charles C. Stevens, jew- 
eler, stands on a part of the Washington Hall lot. 

The next building on Portland Street is the property of Mrs, 
Pauline, widow of the late John Osborn, and is now occupied by 
her daughter, Mrs. Nancy Cousens. It was built by Dr. Ebenezer 
Rice prior to 1770. It stands on the southern corner of a parcel of 
land, containing sixty and one-fourth acres, purchased by Dr. Rice 
the twenty-second day of October, 1765, of Job Lyman, a physician, of 
York.^ He probably built the house the following year. The front 
room, south, was fitted for an apothecary's shop. Dr. Rice married 
Martha, daughter of Nathaniel Wells, April 11, 1765. It is said he 
at one time occupied the house of Jonathan Banks, now a part of 
the dwelling-house of Robert W, Lord. Besides the lot of sixty 
acres, before mentioned, he bought of William Sayer, of Wells, in 
177 1, one share in the common and undivided lands in Wells, and 
in 1772 was largely interested in the iron works and grist-mill on 
the lower falls of the Mousam (now improved by the leather board 
proprietors). He was also greatly interested in parish affairs. It 
is a fair inference that he took greater interest in land and specula- 
tions, and in other matters foreign to his profession, than he did in 
perfecting himself, by careful study, to become useful and maintain 
a well-earned good standing as a medical practitioner. He had four 
children: Ebenezer, born in 1765; Dorothy, 1767; Betty, 1770; 
and Lydia, 1773, in which year his wife died. He left here not long 
afterward and settled in an interior town in Massachusetts. He 
visited this village several times, from 1775 ^^ ^I9^i to make sales of 
real estate. December 1 1, 1782, he sold a lot of land, from his pur- 
chase of Lyman, of about two acres to Tobias Lord and another of 
about the same quantity to Jacob Curtis ; he had previously sold a 
large lot to Abraham Currier and other lots to different persons. 

* Job Lyman was a brother to Rev. Isaac Lyman, of York. He was undoubt- 
edly nearly related to Theodore, of this town. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 859 

His Lyman lot of sixty acres was bounded by land of James 
Hubbard, Joseph Storer, Nathaniel Kimball, Jedediah Wakefield, 
Edmund Currier, the highway and land of John Wakefield. About 
1790 Rice sold to James Kimball his house and adjoining land and 
also a parcel of land adjoining and north of his homestead. In 
1793 Kimball sold to Benjamin Deighton the last-named parcel of 
land for a house lot, where the old Deighton house and barn stood, 
and now occupied by the Methodist meeting-house. In 1797 Kim- 
ball sold to Benjamin Deighton and Jonathan Young the homestead 
formerly occupied by Rice, and in 1800 Young sold his half interest 
to Deighton, who had probably occupied a part or the whole of this 
house since his marriage to Mabel Boothby in 1790. He moved 
into his new house in 1800. Rev. Mr. Fletcher succeeded him, as 
occupant of the Rice house, in January, 1801, and resided there a 
year or two. Samuel L. Osborn purchased the property, where he 
resided many years, improving the former apothecary's shop as a 
country store. Thomas Folsom had previously occupied this shop as 
a watchmaker's and jeweler's establishment; he was succeeded by 
Phineas Stevens, in the same business, who remained there until 1824. 

The old Portland road, from Main Street to and by the Currier- 
Nason place and by Barnard's and Jacob Wakefield's, appears to 
have been very near the dividing line between the northern part of 
the Sayward mills grant and the early grant to the Storers and the 
" Kennebunk grants," made to the builders of the mills on the Ken- 
nebunk River in 1681. Patient research would undoubtedly develop 
many interesting facts bearing on the inquiry, but we doubt if it 
would be possible to trace out and describe the almost numberless 
divisions and sub-divisions of the Kennebunk mill lots, or to furnish 
a full list of the different persons to whom these lands had been 
conveyed between the years 1681 and 1781. Some of these convey- 
ances were recorded on the town books, some on the proprietors' 
books, others on the county records, and many, without having been 
recorded or acknowledged even, were thrown into boxes, drawers or 
desks, to be brought to light in after years by the heirs of the grant- 
ees, who valued them only as reliable testimony in regard to the 
boundaries of their lands, to which they had already gained an 
ample title by possession. 

Nicholas Cole's grant, next below that of Edmund Littlefield, 
was conveyed by Ichabod Cousens and his wife, Ruth (Cole) 
Cousens, to Storer, May 10, 1745, "containing one hundred acres of 
upland, made to our grandfather, Nicholas Cole, May 7, 1681, by 



360 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the town of Wells." Nathan Littlefield, to whom was granted one 
hundred acres of upland next below Cole's, conveyed his tract to 
William Taylor, June 9, 1684; whether this grant had been held 
intact in the Taylor family a hundred years and then came into pos- 
session of William, the son of John, or whether portions of it had 
been sold in the interim, we are unable to say. We think, however, 
that the half part of it nearest the river had been sold prior to 1784 
We are quite sure that the William of 1784 became owner of the 
half part bounded by the highway, and have no documentary evi 
dence to prove that the entire grant did not come into his possession 
This purchase gave him a front on the highway extending from Kim- 
ball's eastern line (now Mrs. Williams's) to James Wakefield's west 
em line (now W. L. Thompson's) ; how far it ran back is uncertain 
It is said that the southwestern boundary of these grants was the 
highway from the village to Kennebunkport. We think such was 
the fact. Land surveyors, in those days, made excellent measure, 
with the concurrence of the grantors. 

Amono- the oldest dwelling-houses in the village is that erected 
by James Kimball, in 1763, on the left-hand side of the road leading 
to the Port, now Summer Street. It has since been the home of the 
grandson of the builder, Capt. John Clement Lord. A few rods east 
of this was the blacksmith's shop of Mr. Kimball. He was compelled 
to relinquish business in consequence of loss of eyesight, and the 
shop lot was sold to Samuel B. Low, who erected a dwelling-house 
thereon, which he occupied a short time; he sold to Enoch Hardy, 
who dwelt there until his decease, in 1849. William Hackett then 
became its owner and occupant; he sold to Capt. William Williams, 
who made very extensive alterations and improvements upon it. It 
is now the homestead of his widow. On the adjoining lot was a 
small building erected by Jonas Clark for a country store, and 
improved by him and Capt. Thomas A. Coney for awhile. In 1800 
Mr. Clark was appointed collector of the customs, when this building 
was removed to the top of the hill, about midway between the house 
erected by Banks and the highway, and was improved until 18 10 as 
the custom house, afterward as the office of the judge of probate. 
This building was later moved down town. 

Jonathan Banks built the house before referred to as early as 
1760, where he resided from 1763 until 1775 and perhaps to a later 
date. Very little is known concerning him. We do know, by his 
selection of the site for his domicile, that he was a man of good 
taste. It is supopsed he came here from York, and that he was a 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 361 

mill man and ship carpenter. He married Lois Berdeen (of York?) 
in 1764, a sister having been his housekeeper up to this date; he 
was again married, in 1773, to Deborah Kimball. His sister, Mary, 
married Caleb Kimball in 177 1. Banks enlisted as a private in 
Captain Sawyer's company, for eight months' service, in 1775, and 
was stationed at Cambridge. We find no mention of him after this 
date. Whether he continued in the service or returned to his home, 
whether he had a child or children, when or to whom he sold his 
house, are inquiries that cannot now be answered. 

Taylor sold to Judge Clark the lot extending from Kimball's 
line to the western boundary of that reserved for himself, now Mrs. 
Sarah Perkins's, including the Banks house. Clark sold the store 
lot to Joseph Dane about 1807, who built a dwelling-house and barn 
thereon, which were destroyed by fire a few years later. This lot he 
sold to James Kimball, Jr., in 1815, who disposed of it, at auction, 
in 1818. Jonas Clark was the purchaser. Clark had erected the 
main building to his house as early as 1801, making the Banks 
building, which he had occupied since his marriage, an L. The 
property was purchased about 1825 by William Lord, who dwelt 
there the remainder of his life. The present owner and occupant 
is Robert W. Lord, son of William. 

The next house was built by William Taylor about 1790. For 
convenient arrangement of the interior and thorough workmanship 
throughout, it was considered the best house in town. He had pre- 
viously built on his lot a store, a blacksmith's shop and a barn, and 
had moved the Lyman store on to the lot and fitted it up for a dwell- 
ing-house, in which he lived from the time of his marriage until 
his large house had been completed (see preceding chapter). From 
this he removed some ten years later to his new house (now Mrs. 
Richards's) on Green Street, and not long afterward he took up his 
abode in Waterborough. He died at the house of his father-in-law 
in this town. Probably Kennebunk never produced a more indus- 
trious, active and, for a time, successful business man than William 
Taylor; he was a generous, large-hearted and patriotic citizen, but 
he formed and, against the promptings of his better judgment, cher- 
ished a habit which proved his ruin, financially and physically. For 
a long time he stood in the front rank of the citizens of the town 
for respectability and wealth ; he might, at the day of his death, 
have held that enviable position. 

Much the larger part of the Taylor homestead, with its many 
acres, together with several adjoining parcels of land, were pur- 



362 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

chased in 1882 by Hartley Lord, son of William, who had been a 
successful merchant in Boston for a number of years and who 
decided to make his future home in his native village, without, how- 
ever, entirely relinquishing his mercantile pursuits in the city. On 
the site of the Lyman-Hillard building and other structures which 
aforetime were in close proximity to it, Mr. Lord has erected a fine 
residence, with all the modern improvements, and in the rear of this 
a neat farmhouse, with large barns, furnished with all the modern 
conveniences and appliances ; in these barns may be seen splendid 
specimens of improved breeds of the most useful of our domestic 
animals, notably of the bovine genus. Of the old buildings no ves- 
tige remains ; some of them have been removed to other locations, 
some have been torn down. 

Crossing the pathway leading to the farm buildings and to the 
extensive tillage lands adjoining, we come to the old-time burying- 
ground of one or more of the Wakefield families, no marks of which 
are now visible ; there were only a few interments therein. Here 
commences the front line of James Wakefield's grant of one hundred 
acres, bounded on the northeast by Kennebunk River and next 
below Nathan Littlefield's mill grant. A part of James's grant came 
into possession of Jedediah Wakefield, who sold forty-five acres of 
it to Capt. Joseph Hatch in 1800, It is said that Jacob had built a 
one-story house directly in front of the lot on which Captain Hatch 
erected his dwelling-house and where he resided. If this was the 
Jacob Wakefield who lived on the Portland road as early as 1745, as 
it probably was, although he must have been an aged man in 1800, 
we think that he must have removed his domicile from that road to 
its then present location, as we find no mention of its standing on 
its original position later than 1780. 

There were many Wakefield families in Kennebunk from 1725 
to 1820. We do not learn that a genealogical record of these exists, 
and it is impossible now to state which of those with this surname, 
so frequently found on the county records, were fathers or sons, or 
nephews or cousins. The daughters appear to have been numerous 
and to have been selected as partners for life by young men belong- 
ing to Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Lyman. Wakefield is get- 
ting to be a rare name in the town ; many emigrated to other towns. 
There were, however, during the last half part of the eighteenth 
century many residents with this cognomen who were prominent as 
buyers and sellers of real estate and who were men of respectability. 
James had a grant of one hundred acres near Littlefield's mill, as 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 363 

before stated, a large number of acres at the Landing, where he 
resided, one hundred acres on the eastern and three-eighths of an 
acre on the western side of Mousam River, being part of the grant 
of three hundred and one acres made by the town of Wells to Henry 
Sayward in 1669, one-half part of which was purchased of Henry 
Gibbs, of Boston, and John Cotton, of New Town, in 1724, by Joseph 
Hill and John Storer, of Wells. James Wakefield purchased his lot 
of Ebenezer and Benjamin Hill, of Biddeford, to whom it was given 
by their uncle, Joseph Hill. James, "in partition with Beard and 
Coolbroth [November 27, 1739], . . . owned in common a cer- 
tain tract of land, . . . being a part set off to Rebecca Wake- 
field and Patience Annable." The entire tract contained six hundred 
acres, one-half part of which was set off to the aforesaid James, John 
and Nathaniel, each of whom was entitled to one hundred acres. 
Where this land was situated, we are unable to state, "York County"' 
being the only description given. We infer that it was in Saco or 
Biddeford. 

James sold to Jedediah fifty acres and one-eighth part of an 
acre, from his purchase of the Hills, "together with one-eighth part 
of the privilege where the first saw-mill standeth, next to Mousam 
Bridge." 

Ebenezer and Benjamin Hill sold fifty acres, being the remain- 
der of the lot willed to them by their uncle, to Nicholas Wakefield. 
Hezekiah Wakefield sold to Samuel Wakefield, November 25, 
1783, "one-sixteenth part of a certain saw-mill, being one-eighth 
part of the shore side of said mill, which stands on the eastern side 
of Mousam River, adjoining the country road and near the dwelling- 
house of Samuel Prentice." 

From the homestead of Captain Hatch his heirs have sold two 
lots, west of their dwelling, on one of which John A. Lord has built 
a dwelling-house and on the other William L. Thompson has 
improved in a like manner, and below their own homestead a lot to 
Moses C. Maling and one to George L. Little, on both of which 
dwellings have been erected. Next beyond and adjoining the 
Wakefield grant, and no doubt a part of it at one time, Benjamin 
Littlefield, " Uncle Ben," purchased a house lot (of one of the 
Wakefields, probably) and put up a dwelling-house, prior to 1800, 
where he resided a few years. The property came into possession 
of Ralph Curtis and was in after years occupied by many different 
tenants, of various trades and professions. It was moved long since 
to the site of Curtis's Scotchman's Brook tannery and fitted up for 



364 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

a tenement. Fifty or more acres adjoining the Wakefield grant, 
just below the railroad bridge, became the property of James Hub- 
bard about 1750, who shortly afterward erected thereon a large two- 
story house, which he occupied until 1776, when he died, at Cam- 
bridge, Mass. His son Diamond succeeded him, and after he had 
passed along his widow dwelt there, with her children, many years. 
It came into possession of Capt. James Hubbard, who married Mary, 
daughter of Diamond. It has since been sold to John T. Ward, by 
whom the dwelling has been greatly enlarged and the whole prop- 
erty much improved. 

Joseph Moody built a fine residence, for the time, on the next 
lot, in which he dwelt for a number of years until his death. His 
heirs sold the property to James Titcomb, who removed from the 
Landing and occupied it thereafter until his decease. It then 
became the property of his only daughter, Mrs. James M. Stone. 
The eastern boundary of this estate is also a part of the eastern 
boundary of School District No. 5 (village). Crossing the road 
here, a few steps village-ward brings us to the dwelling-house and 
carpenter's shop, both neat buildings, built not many years ago by 
the late Capt. Isaac Downing, who moved here from Kennebunk- 
port. This is now the property of Webster Littlefield. Adjacent to 
this lot is Colonel Stone's garden, the site of Joseph Moody's store, 
which was built opposite to and about the same time as his dwelling- 
house. It was moved by his son, Joseph G., to its present location, 
between the dwelling of John Cousens and the shop owned by G. E. 
and W. L. Littlefield; it is now owned and utilized by Cousens as a 
tenement house. Next to this is the homestead of George Wise. 
One Churchill built a store on this lot about 1773 and traded there 
awhile; he enlisted in the United States service in 1776. We do 
not know what became of the store ; possibly it was converted into 
a dwelling-house, a few years later, by Daniel Wise, who became 
owner of the land on which it stood. Clark & Condy, from Port- 
land, we are told, had a store in Wise's house. In this case, Wise 
had probably built the main house and occupied it, and leased the L 
to Clark & Condy. They did not remain there long, but removed 
to the new store built by them farther up town. Wise died in 1843, 
leaving several children, of whom, at this writing, only one, George, 
survives; about 1865 he sold the main house, which was removed 
to the Eastern Depot, West Kennebunk, and the L, which was 
removed to the west side of the Mousam. On the site of these he 
has erected an imposing residence, where he resides. A few rods 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 365 

distant from the house was a store, probably built about the same 
time as the former, in which Wise traded awhile. This was sold in 
after years to a Mr. Young, by whom it was moved several rods 
westward and converted into a dwelling. It afterward became the 
property of William Downs, grandson of Mrs. Hilton, by whom it 
was bequeathed to him. 

Passing by the entrance to the sea road we come to Joseph 
Sargent's residence. The lot on which it stands was purchased of 
Diamond Hubbard, by Abial Kelley, in 1793. The house was built 
the following year and a large shop a year later on the corner next 
to the Hilton-Downs land. Kelley was the first hatter in town (if 
we except Howard, who probably did not carry on the business 
here). Alexander Warren entered into copartnership with Kelley 
about 1S15. They relinquished business about 1830. Warren 
moved the shop to the lot opposite Phineas Stevens's house, on 
Green Street, where it stood until 1840, when he tore it down. The 
house was occupied by Kelley many years. It was afterward sold 
to Dr. Swett and was his residence until his death, after which the 
property Vv-as sold to Joseph Sargent. 

Kelley had one son and four daughters. Abial, the son, was 
a trader; he married Abigail Knight, of Portland, in 1829 ; Lucy, the 
eldest daughter, married Alexander Warren, January 13, 1823 ; Mary, 
next in age, married Samuel Mendum at the same date ; Charlotte, 
the youngest, married Levi P. Hillard, November 11, 1825. Betsey 
was never married. 

Passing the entrance to the road leading to the Boston and 
Maine Depot, on which is the dwelling and store of Thomas L. 
Gillpatrick, the office of the American Express Company, the dwell- 
ing of Thomas Knight and the stable and dwelling of William Simp- 
son, we are reminded that the latter occupies the site of a building 
"with a history," which stood there sixty years ago. Samuel Han- 
cock came here as a schoolmaster in 1772. He kept school a short 
time at the Landing and afterward succeeded Emerson as a trader, 
oftentimes supplying Mr. Little's pulpit. He married Tabitha 
Champney, of Cambridge, in 1774; he died in 1776. His widow 
married John Hubbard, a connection to Diamond Hubbard, prior to 
1778. The county records inform us that John Hubbard and his 
wife, Tabitha, administratrix of the estate of Samuel Hancock, 
deeded to Theodore Lyman, December 8, 1778, for ^95, land in 
Wells containing three and three-fourths acres, which was purchased 
by Hancock of Rev. Daniel Little, "bounded northeasterly by Ken- 



366 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

nebunk Landing, southeasterly by land of said Lyman, northwesterly 
by land of Little, together with frame and rock thereon." Lyman 
sold a small lot of the land to John Hubbard, who moved on to it a 
schoolhouse which had stood several years on a lot that was subse- 
quently covered by Furbish's blacksmith's shop, on the Portland 
road, and a few feet distant from the eastern boundary of the ceme- 
tery. This building had been moved from its first location, in front 
of (now) Joseph Sargent's house, to the lot east of the cemetery 
several years previously. After standing there awhile, being no 
longer needed as a schoolroom, it was sold to Hubbard, by whom it 
was moved on to the lot afterward improved by William Simpson, 
and converted into a dwelling-house, the "rock" being utilized for 
underpinning and the "frame" for repairing and the building of a 
shed adjoining. Hubbard died a few years later; his widow resided 
there until her death, in 1816, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
Mrs. Hubbard spent the years of her first widowhood, as well as a 
part of those of her second, as a teacher. She was somewhat eccen- 
tric, but an excellent woman. After her death the house was occu- 
pied a year or two by Samuel Hubbard. It was then sold to Mrs. 
Mary Nichols, who moved it across the street on to a lot adjoining 
that on which the Benjamin Littlefield house stood. It did not re- 
main here long; it was sold to Asa Taylor, moved to Brown Street, 
occupied by him until his death and by his widow afterward. It 
became the property of Mr. Frank Fairfield, by whom it was greatly 
improved. His son, Eugene A., occupied it a year or two, when it 
was destroyed by fire. 

Adjoining the lot formerly occupied by the above-named dwell- 
ing was a small burying-ground, in which in years long passed many 
interments were made. For a long period of time this burial place 
presented a neglected appearance with its dilapidated fence and the 
graves covered with bushes and wild grasses. It was a sad spec- 
tacle to be presented on one of the main thoroughfares through the 
village, but gradually the remains of the decedents have been 
removed to other cemeteries and the lot has become vacant. 

Adjoining the burying-ground is the site of a house built about 
1790 by Abraham VVithain. It came into the possession of John U. 
Parsons and by him was sold to Stephen Furbish, in part payment 
for the old-time Parsons house, on the corner of Main Street and 
Bourne's Avenue. Furbish lived here the remainder of his lifetime. 
It was sold afterward and moved to the Port District. Next to this 
was the Wakefield house, moved from the street in front of Captain 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 367 

Hatch's, the blacksmith's shop — formerly Taylor's — which was pur- 
chased by John Chadbourne and moved to this location, and near 
by was a two-story dwelling-house erected by him. Chadbourne 
moved to Waterborough and the property was sold to Capt. Joseph 
Hatch ; the shop was shortly afterward taken down. The Wakefield 
house stood on its new location for a long time and had very many 
different tenants. It was taken down a few years ago by Daniel L. 
Hatch, who used a part of the materials in the building of a work- 
shop in the rear of his house. By the purchase of the Chadbourne 
property Captain Hatch came into possession of the before-named 
house and shop and a large lot of land, extending, we think, from 
the burying-ground to Capt. Jeremiah Paul's eastern line. By his 
will he devised the buildings and a part of the adjacent land to his 
son, Daniel L., and the remainder of the land to other heirs. Daniel 
L. built a large addition to the house, converting it into a desirable 
two-tenement residence. 

The field west of the Chadbourne house— a part of the Mousam 
Mills grant in 1669 — has been sold since i860 and divided into 
four house lots; on these residences have been erected by the late 
Horatio Moody, William L. Thompson (now owned by Capt. William 
B. Nason, Jr.), Joseph Titcomb (now owned by Emory Andrews) 
and Edward W. Morton, M. D., respectively. Capt. George Lord 
purchased the Jeremiah Paul place in 1833, moved the buildings 
and erected a dwelling-house the following year. The lot was 
divided and his brother, Capt. Ivory Lord, erected a dwelling-house 
on the eastern half part a year later. The former was sold, after 
the decease of Capt. George Lord, to Joseph Dane, and is now 
in the possession of Mrs. F. P. Hall ; the latter is still in possession 
of the heir of Capt. Ivory Lord, Mrs. George F. Robinson. The next 
lot was purchased by William Trickey (of one of the Wakefields, 
probably) as early as 1790; he put up a barn and on the eastern 
corner a tailor shop. Not being able to hold the property he sold 
it, May 30, 1795, to Jeremiah Paul, who bought it for his brother, 
Daniel Paul, who built a dwelling-house thereon, which he occupied 
a few years, then sold to Robert Patten, and himself moved to Sher- 
burne, Mass. Patten's assignees, in 18 17, sold the estate to James 
K. Remich, who resided there until his death, in 1863. He made 
additions, aggregating about twenty-five acres of land, to his home- 
stead and added to and improved the buildings. The estate came 
into the possession of Daniel Remich, who rebuilt the house in 1865, 



368 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

improved the outbuildings and the surrounding grounds; he also 
reduced the acreage of the estate by selling the larger part thereof. 

Jacob Fisher was one of the earliest settlers on "the hill." He 
bought his lot, in 1785, of James Kimball, who then owned all the 
front land, which ran back a number of rods, on the west side of 
the street from the "oak post," at the eastern corner of Dr. Fisher's 
land, to the eastern corner of Benjamin Brown's homestead. At the 
time Dr. Fisher built his house, the front of which faced the west, 
he had an unobstructed view from his front door of the entrance to 
the meeting-house and, of course, of all who passed in or out. Dr. 
Fisher died October 27, 1840. This homestead was sold the fol- 
lowing year and was purchased by Nathaniel L. Thompson. The 
dwelling-house which stood thereon was sold to Hercules H. Chad- 
bourne, by whom it was removed to a lot opposite Elm Street, where 
it now stands and is owned by Mrs. Susan H. Shannon. One-half 
of the homestead lot was sold by Nathaniel to his brother Charles. 
Nathaniel erected a dwelling-house on the western part in 1842, 
which is still in the possession and occupancy of his heirs; Charles 
erected a dwelling-house a year or two later, which is now owned 
and occupied by Sidney T. Fuller. On the lot adjoining Nathaniel's 
(west) Dr. Burleigh Smart erected a dwelUng-house of brick in 1825, 
which he occupied until his death. It was sold by his heirs to Capt. 
Franklin N. Thompson and is still held by his heirs. Crossing Park 
Street we come to the Captain Paul house, which was removed to 
its present location by Capt. George Lord in 1834 and by him fitted 
up for a double tenement. After having been occupied several 
years by several different tenants, it was purchased by Robert Smith, 
Jr., by whom it was thoroughly repaired as well as remodeled. A 
few rods below this is the dwelling-house built by Phineas Hemmen- 
way (son of Rev. Dr. Hemmenway, of Wells) in 1796-7. Mr. Hem- 
menway married Ann Fairfield, of Pepperelborough (Hollis), in July 
of the year in which his house was completed, and they resided here 
ten or twelve years. Not meeting with the encouragement he had 
anticipated (he was a house carpenter), he sold his estate to Joseph 
Porter about 181 o and removed to an eastern town. Mr. Porter 
occupied it until his death in 1847. It was afterward sold to Nathan 
Dane, Jr., who dwelt there a few years; he sold to Hartley Lord, by 
whose son, George Callender, it was occupied for several years. 
Mr. Lord has recently put this estate in fine condition. 

The next dwelling was erected by Elisha Chadbourne, about 
18 10. It is still held and occupied by his heirs. Adjoining this lot 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 369 

was a swampy piece of land, where the frogs held "high carnival " 
during the warm season and where alders, pussy willows and various 
bushes and plants indigenous to such places abounded. To the 
western corner of this lot Enoch Hardy, in 1810, removed the build, 
ing of which we have before spoken as Stickney & Hardy's tobacco 
manufactory, and in which the three printers who tried their fortunes 
in this town prior to 1809 located themselves during the brief period 
they respectively remained here. This building, from 1818 to 1822, 
was improved by Humphrey Chadbourne as a carpenter's shop. He 
was succeeded by Israel W. Bourne, who taught a private school 
there about two years. It was then known as the "Academy" and 
had the imposing addition of a belfry, wherein was a bell of some- 
what modest pretensions. Bourne moved to Dover, N. H. It was 
subsequently occupied by two young ladies, Misses Lord and Lewis, 
both of Portland, who kept an excellent private school there about 
a year. It was afterward fitted up for a tenement house, which was 
occupied at various times by a number of different families. Be- 
coming dilapidated and unseemly and withal very nearly allied to a 
nuisance, it was sold to some one belonging to Kennebunkport, 
removed to that village and used for a stable. Next to this was 
Porter's tin shop, built about 1808, occupied by him several years 
and afterward by his nephew, Levi P. Hilliard. In after years it 
came into possession of John G. Downing, who put on an addition 
by which it was just doubled in dimensions and converted the whole 
into the neat dwelling where he resided. Two or three rods west of 
this was Elisha Chadbourne's blacksmith's shop, built by him shortly 
after his shop in the rear of J. U. Parsons & Co.'s store had 
been destroyed by fire in 1824. Chadbourne occupied this new 
shop until his death, and was succeeded by his son Hercules, who 
worked there until his removal to the Port, where he was employed 
in ship work ; he was succeeded by John G. Downing, who erected 
a new shop on the site of the old. Crossing Elm Street, we find a 
long, two-story building, built by William Taylor and one Hill early 
in the century. In the eastern half part, about i8og, Isaac Daniels 
kept a country store and later admitted as a partner Loammi Hooper. 
The copartnership was dissolved a year or two afterward. Hooper 
continued the business until his death. James Titcomb and John 
Skeele, copartners, traded there awhile. Waterston &: Pray com- 
menced business in the western half part of the building, where they 
remained until their brick store was completed. Thomas Drew suc- 
ceeded them and continued there until he became a member of the 



370 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

firm of J. U. Parsons & Co. He was succeeded by Dixey Stone, 
who traded there until an opportunity offered for going into business 
in Bridgton, Me., of which he availed himself, making Bridgton his 
home for life. Then came, in succession, Benjamin Stevens, hatter's 
shop; Chadbourne & Junkins, carpenters ; Joseph Kimball, bakery. 
The chambers over this store have always been improved as a dwell- 
ing-house. This part of the property is now held by Mrs. Hewes's 
heirs. The eastern half part was purchased by Charles W. Williams 
about 1840, who added a tenement, fronting on Elm Street. Mrs. 
Ebenezer Huff is owner of the original half part and Mrs. Johnson 
Webber owns the addition, both parts fitted for dwellings. The next 
building was put up by Timothy Frost, in 18 14; he kept a country 
store and auction room for many years. It is now utilized as a 
double tenement house and is the property of Cyrus Stevens. Pass- 
ing the engine house, we come to a building erected by James Kim- 
ball about 1803. His son Jotham occupied it as a country store 
awhile; he removed to Waterborough about 1808. He was suc- 
ceeded by Joshua Blood, a hatter. Among its many tenants, from 
time to time, were Titcomb & Skeele and William Bartlett, traders ; 
Charles W. and John T. Kimball, carriage builders; Loammi H. 
Kimball and Town & English, bakers ; and we think several others 
of different occupations. It is now improved as a storehouse. Next 
to this, on the corner of Green and Summer Streets, stands the 
three-story brick building erected by Kelley & Warren about 18 18. 
We have spoken of the numerous tenants of this building in preced- 
ing pages. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MANUFACTURING COMPANIES, 1823-1842 THE MOUSAM NAVIGATION 

COMPANY. 

The "Great Falls," so-called, on the Mousam River, about five 
miles above the village, were purchased near the first of January, 
1823, by Thomas Leigh, of South Berwick, and Isaac C. Pray, of 
Boston, who at once presented a petition to the Maine Legislature 
asking to be incorporated by the name of the " Kennebunk Manu- 
facturing Company," which request was granted. This water power, 
together with some fifty acres, perhaps more, of wood and pasture 
land adjoining the Falls, was sold in 1825 to the purchasers of the 
mill privileges in the village. It has never been improved for man- 
ufacturing purposes other than mills for sawing lumber (mentioned 
in the preceding pages of this volume), the last of which was 
destroyed some one hundred and thirty years ago. 

The water power in the village, improved as mill sites for the 
old saw and grist-mills on the east side of the river, near the bridge, 
and Jefferds's fulUng mill on the west side, operated by water from 
the upper dam, and as sites for a carding mill on the east side, also 
a grist-mill and Pearson's tannery on the west side of the river, oper- 
ated by water from the lower dam, together with all the mills and 
other buildings standing thereon, were purchased in the spring of 
1825 by a company composed of Hacker, Brown &: Co., of Phila- 
delphia, Bumstead, of Boston, Hacker, of Salem, and Jesse Varney 
and Isaac Wendell, of Dover, N. H. This company also purchased 
of Joseph Storer about sixty acres of woodland and twenty-five acres 
of grass and pasture lands, known respectively as " Storer's woods " 
and "Storer's pasture," adjoining the privileges on the east side of 
the river, and of Richard Gillpatrick his homestead, grass and pas- 
ture lands, in all fifty acres or more, adjoining the privileges on the 
west side of the river. Jesse Varney and others, representing this 
company, were incorporated by the Legislature of 1826 by the name 
of the " Kennebunk Manufacturing Company." Preparations were 
at once commenced for building a large cotton mill. 

371 



372 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

During the same session of tlie Legislature Daniel Sewall and 
others obtained a charter for a bank to be known as the "York 
County Bank," under which, however, no company was organized. 

The Kennebunk Manufacturing Company was either unwisely 
managed or there must have been disagreement among its members, 
the result of which was that attachments were laid upon all its real 
and personal property in Kennebunk in October, 1828, and the 
whole stock in trade belonging thereto, amounting at prime cost to 
more than ten thousand dollars, was sold at auction, November 10, 
1828, and the real estate on the first day of December following. 
There was sold at the same time "a large quantity of machinery for 
a cotton factory" nearly completed, sufficient "to set in operation 
fifteen hundred spindles"; also an excellent frame for a store and a 
blacksmith's shop well furnished. 

Daniel Sewall, treasurer of the company, gave notice January 
14, 1829, that the "proceeds of these sales has been greatly insuf- 
ficient to satisfy all the demands against the company and it has 
therefore become insolvent." 

The real estate belonging to the concern now came wholly in 
possession of Hacker, Brown & Co., of Philadelphia, and William 
E. Hacker, of Salem, Mass., by whom it was advertised at private 
sale, May 7, 183 1, viz.: "The whole of the water power of the 
Mousam River in Kennebunk, including the ' Great Falls,' so-called, 
about five miles above the village (excepting only half a grist-mill), 
eighty-eight acres of land on the eastern side and about eighty-two 
acres on the western side of said river; one small factory [the 
Mayall building] ready to receive machinery, two dwelling-houses, 
a number of barns, saw-mill, half of a grist-mill, two dams, nearly 
new. With a very small expense the water can be conveyed from 
the upper dam along a natural level, so as to give about thirty-four 
feet fall, in a suitable place for factories to be erected and within a 
few rods of tide water." • 

A satisfactory sale of the property could not be effected and in 
the spring of 1832 a company was formed, consisting of Jonathan 
Fiske, of Dover, N. H., William E. Hacker, of Salem, Mass., M. D. 
Lewis, Isaiah Hacker, Jeremiah, Moses and David S. Brown, of 
Philadelphia, Pa., under the firm name of J. Fiske & Co., for the 
purpose of improving this water power and the contiguous property. 
The counting-room at the west end of the bridge was erected, old 
buildings were improved and plans, specifications, etc., were made 
by or under the supervision of Mr. Fiske. In April, 1832, Mr. Fiske 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 6i6 

advertised for five hundred bushels of charcoal and in May following 
for timber, boards and shingles. The company petitioned the Leg- 
islature of 1834 for an act of incorporation, which was granted 
under the title of the " Mousam Manufacturing Company." A 
meeting of the corporators and other subscribers to the stock was 
held at the counting-room May twenty-seventh of that same year, 
when the company was duly organized. Jonathan Fiske was chosen 
agent. Very little of the stock was taken in this vicinity. William 
Lord, by far the most enterprising citizen of the town at the time, 
always ready to aid in any work that gave promise of advancing its 
prosperity, subscribed liberally and Robert Smith, of Kennebunk- 
port, took a few shares. 

The treasurer in his first annual report of the financial condi- 
tion of the company, March, 1835, states that its capital stock is 
one hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of one hundred 
dollars each, that seven hundred and forty-one shares have been 
sold and their amount, seventy-four thousand and one hundred dol- 
lars, paid into the treasury. By the annual report for 1836 it is 
stated that eight hundred and five shares had been sold and the 
sum of eighty thousand and five hundred dollars paid into the treas- 
ury. David S. Brown, of Philadelphia, treasurer of the " Mousam 
Manufacturing Company," gave notice January 25, 1842, that the 
capital stock of said company was eighty-five thousand and five hun- 
dred dollars, and that there had been assessed and paid in the 
amount of sixty-eight thousand one hundred and six dollars and 
nineteen cents. 

The Jefferds fulling mill, alluded to at the commencement of 
this chapter, was a one-story structure situated on the west side 
of the river just a little below the counting-room, on the site where 
later was erected the principal building of the Union Lace Company. 
Farther down was the grist-mill owned by Jefferds and Gillpatrick ; 
this was called the "new grist-mill." The same building was after- 
ward improved by Leach and Lymands as a machine shop. Next 
below was Edmund Pierson's tanning and currying establishment, 
which he built and to which he removed in 181 1 from the Joseph 
Curtis tannery on Scotchman's Brook. The last occupant of this 
building was J. H. Ferguson & Co., machinists, during whose occu- 
pancy it was burned to the ground. On the east side of the river, 
near the bridge, was the old grist-mill on the site of the present one 
(1890). Next below was the old Curtis house, which is still stand- 
ing. At the eastern end of the lower dam, on the site where was 



374 HISTORY OF KENNEKUNK, 

once a saw-mill owned by Joseph Storer, was erected a small one- 
story building by Messrs. Gillpatrick and Jefferds in 1811, which 
they leased to Mayall & Radcliffe for a carding and cloth dressing 
establishment and for the manufacture of satinets, and which was 
first occupied by them in October of that year. It was enlarged in 
1813 and when completed was fifty-six feet long by thirty-six feet 
wide and three stories high at the southern end. Radcliffe improved 
the basement as a dwelling-house. The factory business was 
increased the following year by installing two machines, one for 
spinning and the other for weaving woolen yarn. Good cloth was 
manufactured by them for clothing. This was the first cloth manu- 
factory in town. Both members of the firm were Englishmen and 
they were excellent workmen, industrious and enterprising, but their 
business in its results did not come up to their anticipations. May- 
all was drowned in 1816 and the following year Radcliffe closed out 
the business and returned to Shapleigh, from whence he came. The 
carding and cloth dressing business was continued by Jefferds & 
Hussey (Nathaniel Jefferds and Paul Hussey) until 1820, when they 
dissolved copartnership, Jefferds continuing his business on the 
west side of the river and Hussey retaining the factory. After the 
purchase of the water privilege by the Kennebunk Manufacturing 
Company, in 1825, Jefferds retired from the business and Hussey 
put up a cloth dressing mill on the west side of Cat Mousam Falls, 
which he completed in 1827. Jonathan Kimball succeeded Hussey 
in the factory and installed new carding machines therein, which 
were set in motion June 3, 1825. In June of the year following Mr. 
Kimball entered into partnership with William Jefferds, removing 
the carding machines from the old factory to the shop then recently 
vacated by Nathaniel Jefferds on the west side of the river, where 
he continued the business of carding and cloth dressing. We note 
that this business was' kept up for a number of years, as on May 28, 
1836, the agent advertises for twelve good power loom weavers of 
fine goods, application to be made to Moses Fiske, superintendent. 
The old factory was converted into a machine shop by the 
Manufacturing Company during the summer of 1826 and was 
destroyed by fire in November, 1841. The shop contained several 
thousand dollars' worth of machinery, only a small portion of which 
was saved and which was but partially insured. The building was 
uninsured. The flames communicated to a small building near by, 
where a quantity of machinery and waste cotton were stored, which, 
however, sustained but trifling damage. The fire was supposed to 



HISTORY OF KENNERUNK. 375 

have originated from a defective chimney. The plans of the com- 
pany were greatly deranged by this unfortunate occurrence. Daniel 
Daggett was agent of the company at the time. 

Just above the bridge was a saw-mill, which was taken down 
and near its site a two-story building was put up by Oliver Littlefield 
for the manufacture of cotton twine, batting, etc. It was operated 
by Littlefield, Jabez Smith, George Mendum and John A. Lord. 
The Hewitt mill site was later covered by the Davis shoe shop. 

The Mousam Navigation Company. 

The only objection to the village water power, as a location for 
an extensive manufacturing establishment, mentioned by the cor- 
porators of the Kennebunk Manufacturing Company (1826) was the 
cost of transportation to and from a market where their goods must 
be delivered and their purchases made, it being fully four miles dis- 
tant from the nearest point at which the former could be shipped 
hence by coasters, and of course the same distance from the wharves 
where the raw material, machinery, etc., brought to them must be 
landed, thus subjecting the company to no inconsiderable expense 
for cartage. It was estimated in 1826 that not less than one thou- 
sand dollars per annum were paid by the business men in the village 
for the transportation, by teams, of goods and merchandise to and 
from the Port. This intimation revived the old-time project of 
improving the Mousam so as to render it navigable for sea-going 
vessels of two hundred or three hundred tons burden. 

The petition of Daniel Sewall and others, for authority to build 
a dam across the Mousam River for the purpose of improving its 
navigation, was presented to the Legislature of Maine for 1826, by 
which the desired act of incorporation was granted. Later in the 
session a bill authorizing a lottery in aid of the improvement of 
Mousam River by a canal, dams, etc., passed to be engrossed in the 
Senate. Several other bills granting lotteries for bridges, mining 
companies and other unimportant objects, in different parts of the 
State, were before the Legislature at the same time, all of which 
were subsequently incorporated in one bill, and in this form passed 
to be engrossed by the Senate. The House voted to indefinitely 
postpone, and the Senate — only eleven members being present — 
concurred with the lower branch in thus disposing of the matter. 

The Gazette of the twenty-fifth of March and of the first of April 
contains editorials and communications which indicate that the sub- 
ject excited a good deal of interest, but we infer, from allusions 



376 HISTORY OF KENiNKP.UNK. 

therein made, that the stockholders in the company organized in 
1793 — many of whom were active business men in 1826 — who made 
a sad mistake in causing their new outlet to be excavated on the 
eastern side of Great Hill, opposed this new scheme of changing 
the course of the river so that it would empty its waters into the 
ocean through a canal to be made on the western side of this ancient 
landmark, the carrying of which into effect would require dams, etc., 
that would render all the labors of the old company entirely nuga- 
tory. The lack of sound judgment on the part of those who, more 
than thirty years previously, had selected the eastern instead of the 
western side of the hill for their outlet was often referred to — prob- 
ably too often — and in terms not altogether respectful, and they did 
not care that this arraignment of their action should be proved by 
their accusers to be well grounded. The influence of these stock- 
holders, and the fact that the manufacturing company had disap- 
pointed the expectations of the citizens by failing to push forward 
its work as energetically as it had been supposed they would, 
caused the failure of the new project. We find no evidence that a 
company was organized under the charter granted by the Legislature 
of 1826. 

A bill appropriating two hundred dollars for a survey to ascer- 
tain the practicability of improving the navigation and channel of 
Mousam River, in Kennebunk, Maine, and also appropriating one 
hundred dollars for an additional survey of Wells Harbor, to ascer- 
tain the expense and expediency of extending the piers already built, 
passed both houses of Congress toward the close of the session of 
1830, and was sent to President Jackson for approval ; ii was retained 
by the President and consequently did not become a law. 

In December, 1833, a petition to Congress was prepared asking 
that "the unexpended balance of the appropriation for building the 
lighthouse at Cape Porpoise, amounting it is believed to about three 
thousand dollars, may be applied to the removal of obstructions at 
the mouth of Mousam River," whereby said river "has been for a 
number ot years unnavigable for vessels above twenty tons.'" This 
petition was generally signed by the business men in the village, but 
for some reason was not forwarded to Washington ; perhaps it was 
found that the balance of appropriation was considerably less than 
had been represented, or that by some departmental rule or other 
cause it was not available for the desired object. 

At an early hour one day near the close of the summer months, 
in 1845, three persons took a yawl boat from its mooring at the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. o77 

"Creek," sailed down the river and out to sea for the purpose of 
catching fish. The day had been fine and the catch satisfactory, 
when, about the middle of the afternoon, the clouds began to look 
threatening and it was resolved to make for the mouth of the river 
with all possible dispatch. On reaching the " Ledge," on the way 
up river, it was found that the tide had just begun to flow and that 
they must remain there until the rocks were covered sufficiently to 
allow the boat to pass over them, which would cause a detention of 
two or three hours. While waiting, a thunder storm came up, accom- 
panied with high wind; "thick darkness enveloped the earth" 
before they were enabled to get over the ledge. As they proceeded, 
now grounding on a bend and now cautiously plying their oars, the 
rain poured down in torrents and the wind blew a gale, while sharp 
lightning and heavy thunder added to the dismalness of their sur- 
roundings. Their situation was uncomfortable as well as dangerous. 
About midnight they neared the landing place, when the moon 
kindly peered through the clouds and assisted them in mooring the 
boat. The following day these men were describing their perilous 
adventure to a company of bystanders; a gentleman who was about 
to pass by this company was requested to stop a few moments and 
the story of their narrow escape was told to him, at the close of 
which it was earnestly asked : " Can we not have a new outlet to the 
sea and will you not interest yourself in the matter?" To the sug- 
gestion that perhaps blasting the ledge would be a better course to 
pursue, the answer was: "That would be a costly job; it is very 
doubtful if it could be accomplished, and, if so, it would require an 
expenditure of money so large that there is hardly a possibility that 
it could be raised." 

This conversation led to the movement having for its object 
the straightening of the Mousam and the opening of a new outlet 
through which its waters could reach the ocean. The subject was 
generally discussed by the citizens, and a few of them resolved to 
petition the Legislature for a charter and to take such other meas- 
ures, looking to the successful prosecution of the desired improve- 
ment, as might be found necessary. 

A petition was presented at the May session of the State Legis- 
lature of 1846, signed by Daniel Remich, William B. Sewall, William 
Lord, Jabez Smith, Barnabas Palmer, James and John Osborn, 
William Hackett, Joseph Titcomb and William F. Lord. The peti- 
tioners represent "that the Mousam River is not at present naviga- 
ble for vessels of suflrcient burden to be profitably employed in the 



378 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

coasting or fishing business; that they believe that by opening a 
different channel to the sea and by straightening the river at various 
points it might be essentially improved and rendered navigable for 
vessels of considerable size, thereby adding to the prosperity of the 
town of Kennebunk, the adjoining towns and the interior country; 
that said river was formerly of sufficient depth to render the build- 
ing of vessels of two hundred tons and upwards practicable, a dis- 
tance of about three miles from its mouth. Your petitioners would 
therefore pray that they, with such others as may associate with 
them, their successors and assigns, may be formed into a body cor- 
porate by the name of the ' Mousam Navigation Company,' with a 
capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, with all the powers, 
privileges and immunities usually granted to such bodies, and duly 
authorized and empowered to build a dam across the present river 
or canal (so-called) at any place between the mouth thereof and the 
head of tide water, and to turn the course of said river so that it 
may run into the sea at any place between the present mouth of the 
river and its mouth as it formerly run, and also to cut off any bends 
at any point on said river, or to straighten it in any part thereof, 
and to build any other dam or dams, or raise any embankments on 
said river, which may be deemed necessary to promote the objects 
of your petitioners ; to build wharves or any other necessary fixtures 
at such points as they may consider expedient; to hold real and 
personal property; to collect a reasonable toll on all boats or vessels 
of ten tons or upwards which may enter said river (after a new 
entrance shall have been opened) and to collect reasonable wharfage 
of all such vessels, etc., as may improve their wharves. They also 
pray that the exclusive right of steam navigation on said river, for 
the term of thirty years, may be granted to them." 

At the annual town meeting held in March, 1846, the following 
resolution was passed without a dissenting voice: — 

^'■Resolved, That we, the inhabitants of Kennebunk, in town 
meeting assembled, do approve of the measure therein [the petition 
above named] proposed and of the whole language of the petition, 
and do cordially wish that the prayer of the petitioners may be 
granted by the Legislature." 

The town also voted that this resolution be recorded on the 
town records and that "certified copies thereof be forwarded by 
the selectmen, in their official capacity, to the representative of this 
district and to the senators from this county, to be by them laid 
before the Legislature in furtherance of the object of the petitioners." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 379 

Through the exertions of William C. Allen, of Alfred, a senator 
from this county, and Tobias Walker, our town representative, the 
petition received early attention in the Legislature ; a bill in accord- 
ance with its prayer was reported, which passed through the various 
stages required by the legislative rules without any unnecessary 
delay. The first meeting of the corporators was held July 30, 1846, 
when the charter was accepted, the necessary officers were chosen 
and a code of by-laws was adopted. Five directors were elected, 
who made choice of William Lord as president of the directors and 
the corporation. William B. Sewall was elected clerk of the direct- 
ors and of the corporation. Joseph Titcomb was chosen treasurer. 
The directors subsequently made choice of Daniel Remich as gen- 
eral agent. 

August third and fourth the clerk and general agent made an 
examination of the river, from the old town landing to its mouth, for 
the purpose of ascertaining the best point at which to commence a 
preliminary survey thereof. The survey, under the direction of L. 
K. Dorrance, was commenced on the thirty-first of August and was 
completed in three days. Mr. Dorrance found the levels on the 
river as follows : "Difference of level between low water mark at 
the sea and high water mark at the ' old stump,' 6fj,-o ^ t;et. Tide flows 
at the sea, iiyVV ^^et. Tide flows at the 'old stump,' 4^^^ feet." 

A few days later contracts were made with several persons for 
excavating a canal through the marsh (a sufficient strip of land for 
the purpose having been purchased by the company) from its com- 
mencement nearly opposite the thatch beds, a few rods below the 
town bridge on the Mousam, to the sea wall, which distance was 
divided into twenty-seven stations, each four rods in length, making 
a total of seventeen hundred and eighty-two feet, the excavation to 
be eighteen feet Vv'ide and six feet deep. Before letting out the con- 
tracts, the general agent caused ten pits to be dug on the strip of 
marsh above named, at proper distances from each other, for the 
purpose of ascertaining whether a ledge or other obstruction existed 
that would interfere with the work of excavation. Between the 
twenty-first of September and the twenty-first of October the new 
canal was completed as far as the sea-wall and a contract made for 
its extension through this to the sea. 

There was a difference of opinion respecting the best point for 
the location of the dam across the river, and it was thought prudent 
to employ a civil engineer to examine the premises and decide the 
question. He recommended that it should be built where it now 



380 



HISTORY OF KENNEBNNK. 



Stands, a third of a mile below the commencement of the new canal. 
This was the second great mistake. The directors and agent were 
surprised at this decision; they were of the opinion that any one of 
common discernment would readily perceive that it should be located 
either just below the commencement of the canal, running from the 
western bank to the thatch beds and from the thatch beds to the 
eastern bank, or, as many thought preferable, across the river fifty 
or seventy-five feet below these beds, in order to attain the object of 
turning the water into the new channel. They concluded, however, 
to forego their own impressions and adopt the plan of the engineer, 
hoping that another dam, near the thatch beds, — where it was evi- 
dent to them it must be located to be of any practical benefit, — 
would be erected in the near future. 

The idea had been entertained, founded it was believed on a 
sound basis, that six feet below the surface of the marsh sand would, 
generally, be reached, which would be loosened and carried off by 
the action of the tides, and thus at no remote period sufficiently 
deepen the channel. While digging through the marsh it was dis- 
covered that this theory was not entirely correct; that from six to 
eight feet below the surface, equal to fully three-fourths its entire 
length, the turf was in layers, six to twelve inches in thickness, full 
of rootlets and exceedingly tough ; on examination it appeared 
that water running over these strata made no more impression upon 
them than it would in running over stones. This tenacious turf 
extended in many places, especially on the site of the sea-wall and 
two or three rods beyond it, to the depth of eight feet, and at some 
points even deeper. It was proved, therefore, that the canal should 
be excavated two or three feet deeper than originally designed in 
order to overcome this obstacle. Under the circumstances, it was 
considered by the directors and agent advisable to postpone further 
work until the next spring, after causing a sufficient opening to be 
made in the dam for the passage of the water by its usual course to 
the sea. But there was feverish impatience manifested by many 
persons; the often-repeated and senseless expressions, " Oh, there 
can be no doubt that everything will come out right," "We know 
there will be no trouble," became wearisome. Neither the agent 
nor any one of the directors had the slightest personal interest in 
the matter ; through earnest solicitations they had engaged in the 
work as "a labor of love," with no other object than the public 
good, at the cost of time and labor which they could ill spare from 
the needs of their business pursuits ; they had carried it forward 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. :)81 

with wonderful success; they were not disposed to exercise their 
authority and peremptorily declare that work must cease and the 
opening be delayed until spring, the outcome of which would have 
been "a war of words," and all cheerfully acquiesced in the propo- 
sition of the president: "If they think they know more about it 
than we do, let us yield and see how it will come out." They 
accordingly authorized the agent to give notice that the new canal 
would be opened November fifth. On that day a large number of 
men, many with teams, assembled on the beach at an early hour for 
the purpose of aiding, gratuitously, in excavating, plowing, and remov- 
ing rocks from the sea-wall and beach to the dam. At eleven o'clock 
the agent ordered the last barrier to the free passage of water through 
the canal to be cut away, and the waters of the Mousam, through the 
new canal, mingled with those of the Atlantic. Several boats passed 
through the canal the same afternoon. Several coasters, during the 
following winter, loaded with cord wood near the bank of the original 
course of the river and sailed thence for a western port. It has, in 
consequence of the adverse causes above named, made no progress 
toward river-hood. The water runs through it, but it is a mere pas- 
sage way for small boats, — a striking exemplification of the truth of 
the old adages, "Haste makes waste," "Too many cooks are sure 
to spoil the broth." 

A petition was presented to Congress in December, 1S46, which, 
after briefly stating facts in reference to the making of the new out- 
let, proceeds as follows: "But as said new outlet passes through a 
long distance of flats or beach, it becomes important that a monu- 
ment should be erected at its mouth for the gOidance and direction 
of vessels entering the harbor. Your petitioners believe that said 
harbor is to become of great importance to this vicinity, and also of 
great service to navigation on the coast, as it is anticipated that it 
will be a safe and convenient place for coasters to put in, in cases 
of stress of weather, the channel being so cut that those winds which 
usually attend our most severe storms are favorable for entrance 
into it. Your petitioners believe that one thousand dollars would 
erect a good and sufficient stone monument for the purpose afore- 
said." We cannot give any account of the action of Congress on 
this petition. We are quite sure that its prayer was not granted. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SHIPBUILDING 183O-1882 THE LOCK MARINE ITEMS THE SEA 

SERPENT. 

In the first half of this book we have given a history of ship- 
building in Kennebunk from its earliest settlement to the incor- 
poration of the town, as full and correct as the materials at our 
command would enable us to prepare. Shipbuilding was the lead- 
ing industry for considerably more than a century and we consider 
it important that its history should be continued, as briefly as possi- 
ble, but in a form that will show its years of prosperity and of 
depression, the gradual increase in the tonnage of vessels built from 
year to year and other interesting particulars. 

The Landing in 1820 was a busy locality, much activity being 
manifested in the w^ay of shipbuilding along the banks of the Ken- 
nebunk River, there being seven shipyards in all, viz. : Nathaniel 
Gillpatrick's, back of his dwelling-place (now Thomas Crocker's); 
David Little's, back of his homestead (afterward occupied by Elijah 
Betts); John Bourne's, back of his homestead (his successors being 
George W. Bourne and later Bourne & Kingsbury; Jacob Perkins's, 
a short distance belov/ the above-named (afterward occupied by 
James Titcomb and by Joseph and George Titcomb) ; George and 
Ivory Lord's, a few rods farther down river (occupied in later years 
by Robert Smith, Jr., and by Mark Poole); Isaac Kilham's, a few 
rods below (afterward improved by several different persons as a 
building yard for vessels of small burden) ; then came Hugh McCuI- 
loch's, situated next to the last-named. 

It was found that the freighting business to and from foreign 
ports, which had been gradually increasing in importance at our 
commercial centers since the close of the War of 1812-15, required 
for its successful prosecution a larger class of vessels than had hith- 
erto been employed in the merchant service. It was not, however, 
until about 1830 that our shipbuilders began to be influenced by 
this change, and in 1841 contractors and builders had become 
accustomed to larger totals in figuring the tonnage of ships. From 
1820-30 there were built in Kennebunk thirteen ships, forty-two 

382 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 383 

brigs and five schooners, with a total tonnage of 12,252. From 
1830-40, twelve ships, twelve barks, eleven brigs, one sloop and 
twelve schooners; total tonnage, 10,896. From 1840-50, twenty-six 
ships, twelve barks, eight brigs, six schooners; tonnage, 20,557. 
From 1850-60, forty-nine ships, seven barks, seven brigs, twenty- 
two schooners and thirteen boats; tonnage, 51,432. From 1860-70, 
twenty-six ships, fifteen barks, seven brigs, two steamers and 
seventy-three schooners; tonnage, 47,634. From 1870-80, twenty 
ships, four barks, four barkentines, four steamers, one sloop and 
fifty-nine schooners; tonnage, 42,021. As will be seen, the frac- 
tions of tonnage have been omitted. 

In the meantime the West India trade, which had been until 
within a few years the mainstay of the ship owners in this district, 
had greatly diminished, so that in 1840 it was confined to one firm 
— Capt. Eliphalet Perkins, Sr., and Sons — by whom three large 
brigs were employed. These v/ere usually loaded with lumber at 
this port, their outward destination being Ponce, Porto Rico, where 
the firm enjoyed unusual facilities for the sale of lumber and other 
exports, as well as for the purchasing of the products of the island. 
The cargoes taken on board at Ponce were generally landed at Phil- 
adelphia, New York or Boston, and the brigs returned to this port 
in ballast. Three trips per annum was the customary number. 
The principal cause of the falling off in this trade was that the 
quantity of lumber drawn into this market from the neighborhood 
and the interior had greatly diminished, while the inferiority of its 
quality was yearly becoming more and more apparent, all attributa- 
ble to the fact that the forests in this section had been comparatively 
stripped of the more valuable portions of their pine growth. 

The demand for vessels of larger tonnage led our shipbuilders 
to the serious consideration of obstacles in the Kennebunk River 
that had not in olden time been an object of solicitude. Even at 
the highest tides there was not a sufficient depth of water in the 
river to cover the upper and lower falls (except for a short space of 
time) "on the top of the tide," so as to render the passage of large 
hulls from the building yards to the wharves free from difficulty and 
danger even. In addition to this source of vexation, anxiety and 
expense, it was frequently found necessary to wait several days for 
a "high run of tides" after a hull was ready to be launched. The 
project of a lock, just below the lower falls and about three-fourths 
of a mile from the wharves, — which, we think, originated with 
Messrs. Joseph and George P. Titcomb, — was suggested and was 



384 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

very favorably received by all interested in the shipbuilding industry 
on the river. A stock company was formed for the purpose of 
building and improving the proposed dam, and an act of incorpora- 
tion, under the title of the " Kennebunk River Company," was 
obtained from the Maine Legislature of 1847. Its erection was 
commenced at an early day thereafter, under the supervision of the 
late George P. Titcomb and a board of directors. The length of 
the structure, across the river, was between eighty and ninety feet, 
about seventy-five of which, on each side, was built of large blocks 
of split granite ; these walls were fourteen feet high, having a base 
of four feet, narrowing to a width of thirty inches at the top course. 
Between these walls and attached thereto was a gate, in two parts, 
constructed of white pine plank, bolted in the most thorough man- 
ner, massive and substantial. The method of operating was this : 
When a vessel had been launched and was ready to be taken 
through the gates (which opened in the up-river direction), they 
were closed at high water, thus insuring the continuance of its depth 
at that mark, which would be increased somewhat by the natural 
flow of fresh water from its source and auxiliaries, thus covering 
the falls, the hull was then towed down river and when the falls had 
been passed the gates were opened, and it glided through and on 
its course easily and securely. 

The lock was completed in 1849. The first vessel that passed 
through was the ship Ophelia, five hundred and ninety-seven tons, 
in the autumn of that year. The structure answered the purpose for 
which it was built satisfactorily in every particular, and a large num- 
ber of vessels glided through during the eighteen years it was in oper- 
ation. Many changes had taken place in the course of this term of 
years, through which the lock had become valueless. To meet the 
demands of contractors, the tonnage of ships built at the yards had 
been increasing from year to year, until it was found that the width 
of the river was less than was required for the launching of them 
conveniently and safely; building yards had been erected at the 
Port which were well situated and free from the inconvenience just 
named; the receipts of timber and plank from the interior had mate- 
rially decreased and it was found necessary to obtain a considerable 
portion of these materials from the South, thus subjecting the Land- 
ing builders to the trouble and expense of transferring cargoes from 
shipboard to rafts or gondolas, by means of which they were trans- 
ported up river. These and other considerations led to the aban- 
donment of the shipyards at the Landing and the erecting of others 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 385 

at the Port. In the spring of 1867 the ship Arcturus passed through 
the lock and in the fall of the same year the bark Hawthorne was 
taken through ; these closed the list. Shipbuilding was no longer 
pursued at the Landing; perhaps a few small craft or boats might 
have been built there subsequently. The plats of ground which for 
a century were resonant with sounds of the saw, the axe, the mallet 
and the cheery voices of the shipbuilders are no longer marked by 
the "hum of industry." The aforetime building yards were fenced 
in and were, as now, improved for pasturage, tillage or mowing fields, 
an exemplification of the mutations in men and things constantly 
occurring and unavoidable, bearing hard on localities, but resulting 
in the general good. A portion of the granite blocks of which the 
lock was constructed were utilized in the underpinning of the Davis 
shoe shop. 

During the Civil War gunboats were built by order of the 
national government at different ports. The gunboat Aroostook 
was built at the yards of Capt. N. L. Thompson and sailed in Janu- 
ary, 1862, for Boston, there to receive her armament. 

Among some of the largest vessels that have been built since 
1874 of more than fourteen hundred tons were the Ocean King, of 
two thousand five hundred and sixteen tons, Capt. N. L. Thompson 
builder, St. John Smith, Sierra Nevada, The Trojan, J. B. Brown, 
Defiant, The Rembrant, Grecian, Philena VVinslow, The Vigilant, 
Pharos, The Wachusett and Reuce. 

No large vessels have been built at our shipyards since 1882. 
Work in the few yards that have been in operation since that date 
has been confined to the building of small vessels and to occasional 
jobs of repairing dilapidated hulls. The principal building yard in 
prosperous times is now owned by the Kennebunk and Kennebunk- 
port Railroad Company, which with contiguous lots affords an excel- 
lent site for the depot and other buildings that are required at its 
eastern terminus. 

Marine Items of Interest Gathered Mostly From Files of 
THE Weekly Visiter and Gazette. 

A schooner called the " Waterborough," of about forty-three 
tons burden, was built in Waterborough, under the supervision of 
Aaron Bourne, of Wells, during the fall and winter of 1819 and '20, 
which was drawn on sleds to tide water, a distance of about eighteen 
miles. On her land passage the oxen were unyoked at nightfall on 



386 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

"Zion's Hill/' and the vessel remained there until the following 
morning, while the men employed found accommodations at the 
"victualling cellar" and the oxen were furnished with food and 
shelter in the "long barn" belonging to that establishment. All 
were on duty in good season the next morning, when the craft was 
drawn to the Landing, where she was successfully launched just 
below Durrell's Bridge. 

The hull, rigging and all materials saved from the wreck of the 
brig Merchant, then lying on the beach, were sold at auction the 
tenth of April, 1820. 

Brig Atlas, of Kennebunk, Luther Walker master, Bourne and 
Low owners, while lying in the harbor of Mayaguez, Porto Rico, on 
the night of the fourth of December, 1820, was boarded by twenty- 
one negroes, armed with guns, swords, cutlasses and knives, who 
seized the two men on watch and secured the entrances to the cabin 
and forecastle. All efforts of the captain and those of the crew who 
were in the forecastle were fruitless. The negroes immediately cut 
the cables, loosened the sails and put to sea. After being detained 
nearly two hours below deck, the captain and crew were permitted 
to come up and were ordered to make sail immediately. The 
negroes stated that they were runaway slaves and were determined 
to go to Hispaniola and become the subjects of Boyer and thus 
become freemen. Captain Walker, who was powerless against the 
gang, proceeded to Jacquemel, where he arrived on the eighth. 
Here he found Captain Tripp, of Kennebunk, and the captain of a 
Boston vessel, who were of much service to him. The negroes were 
all landed, to the great relief of Captain Walker and no doubt highly 
gratified with the successful issue of their coup de main. 

Under date of January 31, 182 1, the Visiter says: "The 
harbor has been so frozen, quite to its entrance, for the past ten or 
twelve days, that no vessels could go in or out, but the ice is now 
beginning to leave the river. There has been but one arrival here 
from a foreign port since the twenty-eighth of December." 

July, 1822. Sloop Harriet, of Wells, fifty-one tons burden, 
went ashore on the beach a short distance eastward of Wells Har- 
bor ; the wreck was sold at auction "for the benefit of all concerned." 

The fishing schooner Orient, of Kennebunk, Huff master, 
eighteen tons burden, was captured on the twenty-seventh of July, 
1822, by the British armed brig Argus, and sent into St. John, N. B. 



HISTORY OF KENNEHUNK. 387 

The alleged cause of the capture was the taking of fish in the British 
waters. The real offense was the digging of about one peck of 
clams in a small harbor near Liverpool, N. B. Captain Huff and 
crew arrived home in September via Belfast, having taken passage 
at St. John on board the schooner Venus, of and for Belfast. 

Brig Rebecca Ann, Nathan T. Walker, of Kennebunk (aged 
thirty-one years), master, Thomas Stone, of Kennebunk (aged twen- 
ty-four years), first mate, loaded with fish, beef, etc., sprung a leak 
in March, 1823, when eight days from Boston, bound for Porto 
Rico, and was compelled to put back. She was wrecked near Fresh 
Water Cove, Gloucester, and immediately went to pieces; all on 
board perished excepting one seaman, who succeeded in reaching 
the shore in safety. Mr. Robert Parker, of Eastport, was on board 
as a passenger and Capt. John Whitten, of Kennebunk, as super- 
cargo. The bodies of all were recovered and interred at Gloucester. 

Piracies were alarmingly frequent in the Gulf of Mexico and 
the West Indian seas between the years 1820 and 1824. Not only 
were vessels plundered, but atrocious acts of cruelty were perpe- 
trated on the persons of officers and crews, as well as passengers, 
by these marine miscreants. No national flag was respected; all 
who fell within their grasp were robbed and, with rare exceptions, 
all on board were murdered or shamefully maltreated. These pirat- 
ical cruisers were manned chiefly by Spanish, Portuguese or Afri- 
cans, and the rendezvous of these devils in human shape was at a 
place called Fareaus, thirty or forty miles to the windward of Cape 
Antonio; this cape was an accursed spot, the vicinity of which it 
was dangerous for vessels to approach. The national government 
was severely censured for its tardiness in adopting measures for the 
destruction of these demoniacal monsters. During the last half of 
the year 1822, however, our naval force in the West Indies was 
increased and considerable activity was manifested in the work of 
capturing the freebooters. Twenty-two piratical vessels, besides 
barges and boats engaged in the same nefarious business, were 
taken by our war vessels. A squadron was fitted out at Norfolk, 
composed of the sloop of war Peacock and schooner Shark in 
addition to fifteen small vessels especially calculated for effective 
service in hunting and seizing the armed vessels and smaller craft 
employed in piratical operations. The pjritish government also sent 
a strong force into the infested seas to aid in the extirpation of the 
common enemy, which was efficient and successful. 



388 HISTORY OF KENNERUNK. 

Among the saddest of the narratives of robbery and murder 
by these bloodthirsty wretches is that of the seizure of the brig 
Bellisarius, of Kennebunk, and the horrible murder of its captain, 
Clement Perkins. While the brig was lying at the port of Cam- 
peachy, in March, 1823, she was boarded by a piratical schooner of 
about forty tons burden, "manned with a crew of forty brutes in 
human shape," who stabbed Captain Perkins in several places and 
cut off his left arm. The captain then informed them where they 
would find the money that was on board, which amounted to two 
hundred doubloons. This did not satisfy the fiends, who were 
probably disappointed in not obtaining a larger sum of money, and 
believing that more was secreted in some other part of the brig they 
proceeded in their murderous work by cutting oft" the right arm and 
also one of his legs above the knee; "they then dipped a quantity 
of oakum in oil and after filling the mouth of poor Perkins with this 
combustible they placed him in the oakum and setting fire to it soon 
terminated his sufferings." The mate was stabbed through the 
thigh. The brig was robbed of every movable article and then 
given up to the mate and crew. They arrived at the Balize on the 
twenty-first of March. The late Capt. Thomas Lord, of this town, 
was one of the crew. 

Captain Perkins was the son of Capt. George Perkins, of this 
town, who moved here early in the century from Kennebunkport.^ 
He was thirty years of age at the time he was murdered. When 
about fourteen years old he was apprenticed to Benjamin Smith to 
learn the baker's trade ; two or three years later he entertained a 
strong desire to become a seaman. As Mr. Smith was part owner 
of two or three vessels, he consented that young Perkins should 
abandon the shop for the forecastle, and he at once shipped as 
cook. Well-behaved, industrious and trustworthy, he gradually 
rose from this position to that of captain, in which capacity he per- 
formed all his duties very acceptably. On his last voyage he had 
sold his cargo of lumber at Campeachy for cash, and was about to 
sail for another of the West India islands when his earthly career 
was arrested in the horrible manner as related. The editor of 
the Gazette speaks of him " as a man universally esteemed by his 
townsmen and other acquaintances for his industry, sobriety and 
integrity." 

We believe no other of the many vessels belonging to this port 
then actively engaged in the West India trade fell into the hands of 

'See biographicHl sketch. 



HisroRY OF kb;nnebunk, 889 

the pirates. A brig belonging to a neighboring port was taken and 
vessel and cargo retained by the freebooters, who sent the officers 
and crew (one of whom was David Warren, of Saco, a cousin to the 
late Alexander Warren, of Kennebunk,) to an uninhabited and 
sterile island or sand bar, and left with them a few provisions, suffi- 
cient only to sustain their lives for a day or two; no water could be 
obtained, no vegetation could be seen. These men, with the excep- 
tion of Warren, who had died of thirst, were rescued through the 
efforts of a person who was a prisoner on board the pirate at the 
time the eastern brig was taken and her crew left on the sand bar, 
who managed to escape a day or two afterward and to reach an 
island where pirates were not the controlling power. On his repre- 
sentation of the facts to the authorities, a boat was sent to their 
relief and the nearly famished ones were saved. 

Brig Bellisarius, of Kennebunk, Peabody, arrived at the Bar 
August lo, 1825, having met with a severe gale on the thirty-first 
of July, during which she lost mainmast, sails, rigging and spars. 
She sailed from this port on the twentj^-fifth of July for the West 
Indies, with a cargo of lumber, but was compelled to put back for 
repairs. 

The wreck of schooner Lark, of and from Wells, Forster mas- 
ter, bound for Martinique, was fallen in with September 15, 1825, 
by an American brig from St. Domingo and bound to Cowes. The 
schooner had been upset, both masts gone, water logged and the 
captain drowned. Five persons were taken from the bowsprit, viz.: 
John Welch, John Harve3% Samuel Pope, Charles O. Pope and 
Willsbury Dowdie. 

George Wheelwright was for many years employed in the 
custom house while it was located in Kennebunk and after its 
removal to Kennebunkport as deputy collector, and for four years, 
1825 to 1829, as collector of the Port and District of Kennebunk. 
He was an excellent officer and a very worthy citizen, but he was 
not a believer in the necessity or propriety of the multiplicity 
of "custom house oaths" required by law. He at one time 
related to the author the following anecdote in support of his view 
of the subject. The thirty-first day of December, 18 — , "fishing 
bounty day," was cold and stormy, Mr. Wheelwright was at the 
custom house considerably before the usual hour, in order that early 
applicants for bounty money should not be kept waiting. His first 
visitor was the owner of a large fishing boat which he well knew 



390 HISTORY OF KENNERUNK. 

had laid at the wharf during the larger part of the then past fishing 
season, only now and then being employed for a day or perhaps a 
week in fishing. After discussing the weather, etc., his visitor, 
who was a member of a church in "good standing" and who was 
really a very estimable man, announced his readiness to sign and 
make oath to the requisite papers and receive his bounty money. 
Mr, Wheelwright asked him if he could conscientiously swear that 
his boat had been actually employed in fishing for the term of four 
months and that there had been caught and cured by her crew 
twelve quintals of fish when cured to the ton. "O sartinly," was 
the answer; "the boat has been at sea long enough and there have 
been enough fish caught and cured to am the bounty." The neces- 
sary papers were then made out, duly signed, the oath administered 
and the bounty paid. The storm continued and, as no one came in, 
the two men sat down and engaged in conversation for a short time. 
When the recipient of the bounty was about taking leave, Mr. 
Wheelwright said to him: "Now about your bounty, can you say 
upon your word and honor that your boat has been at sea a sufficient 
length of time and that her crew have caught and cured a sufficient 
quantity of fish the past season to entitle her to the bounty?" 
"Well, well, squire," was the answer, "come to put it to my word 
and honor, I can't say that she has." 

The steam brig New York, Captain Harrod, which left Portland 
on Tuesday, August 22, 1826, for Eastport, took fire near one of 
the flues about nine o'clock p. m. on the following Thursday, when 
about eight miles distant from Petit Menin Lighthouse, and was 
entirely consumed. There were fourteen passengers on board and 
the officers and crew numbered eighteen, all of whom were saved^ 
reaching the island by the boats of the steamer about eleven p. m. 
The island is about seven miles distant from the mainland. Among 
the passengers were Miss Hannah C. Little and Miss Sarah Tucker, 
of Kennebunk, and Mrs. Oliver N. Allen and child, of Lubec. Miss 
Tucker, in a letter to her father, Mr. Stephen Tucker, gave a graphic 
and very interesting account of the accident, of their landing on the 
island, and of their journey of seventy miles to Lubec, their place of 
destination, by fishing boats, pedestrianism and stage. Extracts 
from this letter were published in the Gazette. She says: "I lost 
everything excepting what I had on (which was the meanest I had), 
my habit, shawl and bonnet; Mrs. Allen and Miss Little were as 
unfortunate as myself and lost everything." 



HISTORY OF KENNEP.UNK. 891 

The steamer Tom Thumb, Seward Porter master, of Portland, 
visited Kennebunkport September 30, 1827, and taking on board 
about one hundred ladies and gentlemen, belonging to Kennebunk 
and Kennebunkport, "made an excursion to the islands of Cape 
Porpoise, where the party partook of an excellent chowder and other 
refreshments." We think that this was the first steamer on the 
waters of the Kennebunk River. 

The ship Delos, Charles Williams master, of and for this port 
from Liverpool, sprung a leak while scudding in a severe gale, in 
longitude 45, September 16, 183 1. It was found impossible to stop 
the leak. In a sinking condition, with eight feet of water in her 
hold, it was found necessary, on the eighteenth, to abandon her. 
Fortunately a bark, which proved to be the Frances Mary, from Ire- 
land for Quebec, was in sight and answered their signal of distress, 
taking on board the officers and crew, who were landed at Quebec 
on the eleventh of October. The Delos was partly loaded with salt 
and copper ; a quantity of specie and a few hundred weight of cop- 
per were saved. The ship was insured and the cargo partially 
insured in Boston. 

The tide rose to an unusual height in Wells Bay on the twenty- 
second of November, 183 1, — it was thought fully three feet higher 
than common high tides, — as high or higher, at our wharves, than 
ever before known. A small quantity of wood was swept from the 
wharves, but no material damage was done here or at Wells. 

Congress, in 1831, appropriated six thousand dollars for a 
lighthouse at or near Cape Porpoise. A remonstrance against the 
erection of this lighthouse was sent to Washington from Portland ; 
it was urged that another situated so near the Boon Island and 
Wood Island Lights would do more harm than good. The Gazette 
of the twenty-sixth of December advocates very strongly the erec- 
tion of a lighthouse and shows the futility of the arguments used by 
the Portland petitioners, and notices several errors in their state- 
ments, one of which was that Boon Island Light was only six miles 
distant from Cape Porpoise. Boon Island, we believe, is twenty- 
one miles distant from the Cape, and Wood Island nine miles distant 
therefrom. The remonstrance was fruitless. 

The bark Augusta Blaisdell, of Kennebunk, bound from Cadiz, 
July 13, 1837, to Boston, sprung a leak August fifth. It was found 
impossible to stop the leak or to do effectual work with the pumps. 
The captain, officers and crew abandoned the vessel at six t>. m. on 



392 HISTORY OF KExNNEBUNK. 

the following day, and were taken on board the French brig Active, 
which was at anchor, fishing, near by. Nothing was saved except 
the clothing of the ofificers and crew. At about eleven o'clock the 
next forenoon the Augusta was seen sinking, her stern being com- 
pletely blown out. The Augusta was a good vessel, three years old, 
and was insured for fifteen thousand dollars. Her cargo of salt 
was uninsured. 

The bark Horace, of Kcnnebunk, Leander Foss captain, which 
sailed from New Orleans April lo, 183S, bound for Liverpool, 
anchored off Kennebunk Harbor on the second day of May, her 
crew being in a state of mutiny. The mutiny commenced on the 
eighteenth of April, off the coast of Florida, and it was alleged 
without any provocation on the part of the captain or other ofificers. 
One of the mutineers was armed with a pistol, heavily loaded, which 
was taken from him by the captain. The ringleaders, four in num- 
ber, were taken into custody and conveyed to Portland, where the 
United States Circuit Court was then in session. Bills were found 
against them by the Grand Jury; two of them pleaded guilty and 
were sentenced by the judge to sixty days each in the county jail, 
the other two were discharged. 

During the night of May fifth, in a severe gale from east, south- 
east, the bark parted both her cables at about midnight, and drift- 
ing westerly struck upon the ledges off Oakes's Neck, where she 
thumped badly, lost her rudder and false keel, and bilged; drifting 
thence about half a mile farther in the same direction, she grounded 
on Boothby's Beach, near the "Two Acres," about one hundred and 
fifty yards below high water mark. As the gale continued with un- 
abated violence, with a tremendous sea running, and the vessel was 
fast filling, she was abandoned by all on board, — the pilot, an able 
and capable seaman from Kennebunkport, the ofificers and all the 
crew. The next morning the bark was found to be upright, her 
masts standing broadside toward the shore, and preparations were 
made for dismantling her and removing the cargo, which, as it was 
impossible to land it with boats, could only be done at low water 
and with teams, a slow and tedious process. 

The Horace was a first-class vessel of three hundred and eighty- 
nine tons burden, built in Scarborough the previous season, and was 
on her maiden voyage. She was owned by Charles C. and Orlando 
Perkins and Captain Foss, of Kennebunkport, and Joseph Hatch, 
Jr., of Kennebunk. Vessel and freight were insured in Boston for 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 393 

thirty-one thousand five hundred dollars. The cargo was insured in 
London. The cargo, consisting of about twelve hundred bales of 
cotton, was sold at auction, on Boothby's Beach, June sixth. The 
auction was attended by a large number of men from different towns 
in New England. The cotton sold at prices ranging from twenty- 
nine to fifty-three dollars per bale (a bale was estimated to contain 
about four hundred and twenty pounds). A lot of one hundred and 
sixty-three bales, remaining in the lower hold of the bark, sold for 
eleven hundred and twenty-five dollars. The hull of the bark was 
also bidden for and sold in the same way. 

Brig Swiss Boy, Captain Blaisdell, of this port, was run into on 
the night of the twenty-eighth of December, 1839, ofT and near 
Stirrup Key, by the ship William Engs, of Newport, R. I. She was 
so seriously injured that it was considered advisable, after remaining 
by her twenty-four hours, to abandon her. Captain Blaisdell and 
crew were taken on board the William Engs and landed at Havana. 

Ship Oakland was built at the Landing by Henry Kingsbury 
and was launched May 5, 1841 ; it was at the time the largest 
vessel ever built there. 

The schooner Nile was launched from the shipyard in Kenne- 
bunkport May 7, 1841. She was rigged on the stocks and went off 
her ways in fine style, with streamers and flags flying. She was 
owned by D. and S. Ward and intended for a packet between Ken- 
nebunk and Boston. 

During the years 1841 and 1842 several brigs entered at this 
port laden with sugar and molasses. Entries of foreign goods at 
the Kennebunk custom house for several years previously had been 
few in number. In the years above named the crops were some- 
what larger than the average on the island of Porto Rico, and owing 
to the dull state of trade at the commercial centers the prices of 
sugar and molasses ruled very low and the demand for them was 
quite limited, Capt. E. Perkins & Sons decided to order the car- 
goes of these staples belonging to them, or in their charge as 
consignees, to be sent direct to Kennebunkport, there to be stored 
until quicker sales, and at more remunerative prices, could be made. 

Four cargoes of sugar and molasses were imported from May 
to September, 1841, on which duties to the amount of nine thousand 
and thirteen dollars were collected, and four cargoes in 1842 paying 
duties to the amount of six thousand one hundred dollars. A cargo 
of salt — nearly tAvelve thousand bushels — from Cadiz was also im- 



394 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

ported in 1842. In 1843 the imports were about four thousand two 
hundred bushels of salt from Turks Island and ten thousand five 
hundred bushels from Cadiz. In February, 1845, brig Motto, of 
Portland, Williams master, from Cardenas for Portland, ran on to 
the Fishing Recks and bilged. Her cargo, molasses, nearly all of 
which was damaged, was brought into this port. After deducting 
the amount decreed by appraisers for damages, the duties thereon 
amounted to five hundred and forty-five dollars. The brig, we 
think, was gotten off from the ledge, towed into Portland and there 
repaired. Since 1S45 the importations at our custom house have 
been unimportant. 

During the years above named the exports from this port to 
Ponce, P. R., British West India Islands and Cuba amounted to 
about thirty-five thousand five hundred dollars, among which were 
two million three hundred thousand feet of boards, other lumber 
and manufactures of wood (hoops, shocks, shingles, spars, etc.), 
nine hundred and sixty-seven quintals of dried fish and (1842-43) 
sixteen hundred and eighty barrels of potatoes, invoiced value eleven 
hundred and fifty-one dollars. The exports to foreign ports since 
1845 have been inconsiderable. 

Bark Isidore (new vessel), Leander Foss master, sailed from 
Kennebunkport for New Orleans, in ballast, about noon, November 
30, 1842. During a severe gale and snowstorm, the same night, she 
was driven ashore on Bald Head, Cape Neddock, and all on board 
perished, — the captain, first and second mates, a passenger and 
eleven seamen. The bark was a complete wreck. 

The Sea Serpent. 
No little excitement was occasioned in the coast towns of 
Massachusetts and Maine, in the summer of 1817, by the appear- 
ance of "an unusual fish or serpent" in the harbor of Gloucester, 
near the "half-way rock" (half way between Boston and Cape Ann). 
It was also once seen, as was alleged, in Wells Bay. Great efforts 
were made by the Gloucester people to take him; muskets, harpoons 
and various other instruments were employed for this purpose, but 
all their labor in this direction was ineffectual. It was said that the 
"head of it, eight feet out of water, was as large as that of a horse 
and very long." There were various estimates as to its length, none 
less than eighty and some as high as one hundred and fifty feet. 
Many fishermen saw him, at different times and places, and were 
much alarmed. This was the first "sea serpent" seen in our 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 895 

waters, except in 1793, when it was stated that a marine animal, 
answering its description, was discovered near Mount Desert, in 
Maine ; but the report was not generally credited, although it was 
understood that such "monsters of the deep" had been seen, occa- 
sionally, on the coast of Norway. He was espied, in August, 18 18, 
near Rye Beach, "gliding with great swiftness, often raising his 
head above the surface of the water and apparently about one 
hundred feet in length." The serpent was again perceived early in 
June, 1819, near Cohasset Rocks, and frequently, during the summer 
of 1820, in the vicinity of the Isles of Shoals. 

The coast in the immediate vicinity of Kennebunk was visited 
by this marine monster in the summer of 1830. He was discerned 
by three men, who were fishing a few miles distant from the mouth 
of Kennebunk River, on the afternoon of the twenty-first of July. 
Two of the men were so much alarmed at his nearness to their boat 
that they went below. The third, a Mr. Gooch, "a man whose 
statements can be relied on," remained on deck " and returned the 
glances of his serpentship." Mr. Gooch gave the following account 
of the interview. "The serpent was first seen a short distance from 
them, but very soon he changed his course and came within six 
feet of the boat, when he raised his head about four feet from the 
water and looked directly into the boat, in which position he 
remained several minutes." Mr. Gooch viewed him carefully and 
gave it as his opinion that he was "full sixty feet in length and six 
feet in circumference; his head about the size of a ten-gallon keg, 
having long flaps or ears, and his eyes about the size of those of an 
ox, bright and projecting from his head; his skin was dark gray 
and covered with scales ; he had no bunches on his back. When 
he disappeared he made no effort to swim, but sank down appar- 
ently without exertion." Mr. Gooch said that he could have struck 
him very easily with his oar, but that "he was willing to let the ser- 
pent alone if the serpent would not molest him." He had been 
spied off this and off Wells Harbor several times during the third 
week in June by different persons, men of respectability and veracity. 
The fishing schooner Dove, Captain Peabody, on her passage 
from Boston to this port, November 17, 1835, "fell in with his 
marine majesty, the sea serpent, cruising near the half-way rock." 
Captain Peabody stated that he ran within four rods of him and for 
a short time had a fair view of him. "Several protuberances 
appeared along his head, which was elevated three or four feet 
above the water ; but as the schooner neared him he settled under 



a;»0 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the water, his wake indicating him to be sixty or seventy feet in 
length." 

The crews of a dozen or more fishing boats who were fishing in 
Wells Bay on Monday afternoon, July 22, 1839, united in the dec- 
laration that the serpent was distinctly seen by them. They repre- 
sented him as fully one hundred feet in length, resembling "a long 
row of hogsheads or barrels, with perhaps a foot or eighteen inches 
space between each of them." An editorial in the Gazette says in 
regard to these statements : " Such are the reports. We can only 
say that we are acquainted with several of the persons by whom 
they are made and we know them to be credible men, not over cred- 
ulous nor lacking in courage. Of one thing all our good people — 
whether believers or disbelievers in the existence of the sea serpent, 
or that these visitors, at different times, are different members of a 
race of sea serpents — may be assured, that a big fish, which was a 
unique fish, appeared in our waters at the time aforesaid and exhib- 
ited himself to divers persons and in divers places." 

The serpent was caught sight of twice during the second week 
in August, 1839, off our harbor, it was thought not more than two 
miles distant from the piers. The fishermen complained that the 
fish had all deserted their old feeding grounds and were only to be 
found close in shore. 

A gentleman belonging to Cape Neddock left that harbor on 
the thirteenth of August, in a small boat, and when about a mile 
and a half from the harbor saw, about thirty feet distant, what he 
supposed to be a school of sharks, but he was soon convinced that 
it must be the huge marine monster that was visiting this coast. 
He afterward saw him distinctly. His length was not less than one 
hundred feet; he had bunches or humps on his back about the size 
of a common barrel, with flippers at each end of them ; was covered 
with scales the size of a common plate; had a small head, resem- 
bling somewhat that of a snake; passed through the water with 
great velocity and his motions resembled those of a snake. He was 
in the vicinity of his boat and of other boats near him for several 
minutes, dodging about, probably in search of food, and finally 
started off in an easterly direction. Several of the boats' crews 
were much alarmed and made for the shore. The gentleman thought 
he could not have been deceived ; he had often seen shoals of vari- 
ous kinds of fish, such as whales, sharks, etc., but this resembled 
no marine animal, or cluster of marine animals, which he had ever 
before met with, or which he had heard or seen described. 



HISTORY OF KENNEP.UNK. 397 

This marine wonder has not visited Wells Bay, so far as is 
known, since 1839. He has not, however, forsaken the coast of 
New England ; accounts of his appearance at different points, espe- 
cially those in Massachusetts, where he was first discovered during 
the summer of 18 17, are frequently published. He still "roams at 
large in the wide waters," eluding all efforts for his capture, and 
discordant descriptions of him are still given by " eyewitnesses." 
Whether it is the same animal that is descried at different times and 
places, from time to time, or whether they are members of a serpen- 
tine family, gigantic in size and peculiar in its habits, which stray to 
our coast from a Norwegian home, are questions that remain unsettled. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PIERS THE GRANITE SPECULATION. 

" Kennebunk [Harbor] being a barred harbor and the channel 
being liable to shift every storm, by the shifting of the sand, and 
there also being a bad rock, called the Perch Rock, in the middle 
[and near the mouth] of the river, a company was formed in 1793, 
and incorporated in 1798, 'to build a pier extending over Perch 
Rock, for the double purpose of covering the rock and keeping the 
channel in one place.' This was known as the ' Perch Rock Wharf,' 
and although it failed fully to meet the expectations of its projectors 
it was, nevertheless, an exceedingly useful structure. It not only 
rendered passage up and down the river safer, but it was a very 
great convenience to inward and outward bound vessels that were 
compelled to wait for a favorable state of the tide or wind. After 
the pier had been built, it was dangerous to sail out of the river 
fully loaded, and the larger class of vessels usually finished their 
loading outside the bar. . . . The proprietors were allowed to 
assess a small tax on every ton of navigation passing the pier. The 
act of incorporation was several times renewed, but the tax on ton- 
nage being reduced in 1820 the proprietors refused to accept the 
charter."^ 

The perceptibly favorable influence of the Perch Rock Wharf 
on the action of the sand, considering its distance from the mouth 
of the river and the shortness of the structure, limited as it was, 
afforded to intelligent observers satisfactory proof that a properly 
constructed pier at the mouth of the river would be an efficient agent 
in fixing and deepening the channel. The great necessity for such 
a work was strongly felt by merchants and all others interested in 
or dependent on the commercial prosperity of Kennebunk and Ken- 
nebunkport. The ship owners in these towns had been for many 
years then past and were at that time paying no inconsiderable 
sums into the national treasury for duties, and they regarded it as 
within the bounds of strict propriety that they should ask C^ongress 
for an appropriation for an object that would so well bear investiga- 
tion. A petition was accordingly prepared and committed to the 

' Kiadbu)-y'.s History of Keniiebunkpori. 

398 



HISTORY OF K.ENNEBUNK. 



399 



care of John Holmes, member of Congress from this district, by 
whom it was duly presented. Through the well-directed exertions 
of Mr. Holmes, in connection with valuable aid furnished by Mark 
Langdon Hill, also a member of the House from Maine, an appro- 
priation by Congress of five thousand dollars was obtained (1820). 
The pier was built under the direction of a committee selected from 
citizens of the two towns, viz. : John Low, chairman, Joseph Per- 
kins, Hugh McCulloch, Simon Nowell and Horace Porter. Edward 
White was master workman. It was built of pine timber (cribs of 
timber with stone) and was located on the west side of the river, 
on the site of the stone pier now standing. The anticipations of 
the public were more than realized at an early day by the favorable 
operation of this structure, and two or three years later an appro- 
priation of four thousand dollars was asked for and obtained, to be 
expended in the building of another wooden pier, on the east side 
of the river, opposite to that already erected, without which it was 
evident that the sand obstruction could not be removed the whole 
width of the channel. This was also expended under the direction 
of a committee, and the pier after its completion proved to be very 
beneficial. The good feeling induced by the favorable operation of 
these improvements was, however, of short duration. In the course 
of three or four years it was found that more than one-half of the 
frame work of the western pier, seaward, was showing signs of 
weakness and decay. The thoroughly honeycombed timbers, caused 
by the ravages of an insect called sand flea, evidenced too plainly 
that the work of destruction was far advanced, and, moreover, there 
were no known means by which its progress could be stayed. It 
was found, too, that the insect was vigorously at work on the eastern 
pier. This event was not only unlooked for, but was the source of 
sad forebodings, for if the woodwork was destroyed the ballast must 
necessarily fall into the channel and render the entrance to the har- 
bor more difficult than ever before. In 1828 the eastern pier was 
seriously injured by a storm. An examination by a government 
engineer led to a recommendation by him that the sum of five thou- 
sand dollars should be appropriated by Congress for replacing the 
injured portion of the western pier with a work of stone and for 
strengthening and extending inward the pier on the east side of the 
river. This sum was appropriated for the purposes above named 
during the session of 1829. The money was expended under the 
direction of Barnabas Palmer, collector of the district, as agent of 
the Topographical Engineer Department, during the years 1829 and 



400 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

1830. Three hundred and five feet of the western pier was removed 
and replaced by a pier head thirteen and a half feet broad by four- 
teen feet long and two hundred and ninety-one feet of pier proper 
of stone, leaving two hundred and thirty-one feet of the wooden pier 
standing. The eastern pier was also repaired and strengthened. In 
183 1 Congress made an appropriation of one thousand one hundred 
and seventy-five dollars "for completing repairs to piers at the 
entrance of Kennebunk River," and in 1832 a further appropriation 
of seventeen hundred dollars was made for the same object. This 
was expended in dumping rough blocks of stone along the inner 
side of the stone pier (western), to prevent its being undermined, 
and in extending the eastern p'.er (wooden) a little distance beyond 
the Perch Rock, the whole measuring two hundred and eighty-two 
feet. 

An appropriation of ten thousand three hundred dollars was 
made by Congress in 1834 '*for piers at the entrance of Kennebunk 
River." This was utilized for granite and labor required for the 
building of the pier head on the east side of the river, said pier 
being thirty feet broad by twenty-eight feet long and built in 
three feet of water. Further appropriations, for continuing the 
stone pier and repairing and building wooden piers on the east side 
of the river, were made by Congress: In 1836, seven thousand five 
hundred dollars were expended; in 1837, three thousand dollars; 
and in 1838, eight thousand dollars. These appropriations were 
disbursed, under the agency of Joshua Herrick, deputy collector, in 
completing the pier head and building about ninety-nine feet of the 
pier proper of stone, and about one thousand feet of wooden piers 
were built and repaired, if we include " Harding's Wharf," two hun- 
dred and seventy-three feet, a distinct structure a short distance 
inland from the connected line of piers. This wharf was originally 
built by private individuals. In or about 1832 it was purchased by 
the government and at this time (1S38) much needed repairs were 
made upon it. 

During a severe storm which occurred on the third and fourth 
of October, 1841, more than one hundred feet of the wooden piers 
on the east side of the river, adjoining the stone pier, were broken 
up and rendered worthless. This section had been weakened by 
the operations of the sand flea and had not been built with due 
regard to its exposed position, where great strength was required. 
Indeed, it may be truly said that the whole line of wooden piers 
then standing had been cheaply constructed, it being considered, 



HISTOKY OF KENNEHUNK. 401 

probably, that they were so far up river that no special regard to 
strength of construction was necessary. There were at the time no 
funds that could be applied to the rebuilding of the work that had 
been so thoroughly destroyed, and for eighteen months the sea 
swept over the ruins unobstructed, washing, with almost every 
incoming tide, sand from the beach at the back of the stone pier 
and the debris from that which had been carried away into the 
channel, the depth of water in which, it was estimated by competent 
judges, had been lessened fully three feet in these eighteen months. 

In September, 1842, Mr. Remich, collector of the port, was 
appointed agent of the Topographical Department and authorized 
to continue the stone pier so far as unexpended balances of certain 
former appropriations for other works would warrant. There were 
then about nine hundred tons of stone that could be used in the 
construction of the pier, the property of the United States, lying on 
different wharves in Kennebunkport, and about the same quantity, 
also the property of the national government, lying at different 
quarries about three miles from the piers. During the remaining 
months of 1842 the larger part of the outlying stone was removed to 
the site of the contemplated work and the stone pier was extended 
inward and very nearly completed one hundred and thirteen feet. 
The large dimension stone required was furnished and all the stone 
was laid by a firm belonging to Rockport, Mass. 

During the winter of 1842-43 a chart of the entrance to the 
harbor, showing the situation of all the public works that had been 
erected there and the depth of water at various points, commencing 
at the mouth of the creek near Harding's Wharf and extending to 
three fathoms soundings outside the bar, was made by order of the 
Topographical Engineer Department. Jonathan Fiske was employed 
by Mr. Remich to make the required measurements and soundings 
and to prepare the chart, all of which was accurately and satisfac- 
torily performed. 

A severe storm occurred on the seventeenth of March, 1843, 
during which about one hundred feet of the wooden pier, beyond 
the Perch Rock shoreward, were carried away. The timbers were 
mostly saved, and with them a rough though substantial pier was 
built, extending from the main pier (near the Perch Rock) across 
the sands to a sand bank opposite. This structure was one hundred 
and twelve feet in length, eleven feet in width and between four and 
five feet high. It was built for the protection of a long pier, beyond 

26 



402 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Perch Rock, known as "White's Pier," which was fast decaying 
from the force of the sea, as well as with the expectation that it 
would prevent the sand from washing into the channel at this point; 
these purposes it answ^ered admirably. It was removed a few years 
later by a United States engineer in charge of the works and 
replaced with a more substantial structure of stone. 

In 1843 the stone pier was continued and completed one hun- 
dred and five feet, making, with the extension built the preceding 
year, the whole length of the extension in these years two hundred 
and eighteen feet, which, added to the one hundred and twenty- 
seven feet built prior to 1842, made the entire length of the stone 
work three hundred and forty-five feet. The extension, which was 
of the same dimensions as the work previously built, averaged sev- 
enteen feet high, seventeen wide at the base and three feet (a cap 
stone) at the summit. Several hundred feet of the wooden piers 
were rebuilt and the whole of them (excepting Harding's Wharf) 
were thoroughly repaired the same season. The amount expended 
by Mr. Remich during 1842-43 was about five thousand five hun- 
dred dollars. 

When the extension was commenced, in October, 1842, it was 
stated, on good authority, that a common yawl boat could not easily 
pass over the bar at low water, and that, ordinarily, at high water 
it was found necessary to lighten inward-bound vessels (by unloading 
a part of the cargo outside and taking it up river in boats or barges) 
drawing ten feet before they could enter the harbor, and with out- 
ward-bound vessels of more than ten feet draught, when laden, it 
was necessary to take them over the bar when partially laden and 
complete the work outside. Less than a year after the extension 
and repairs above described had been completed a coaster of about 
fifty tons, with a full cargo, passed over the bar without hindrance 
within an hour after the tide had commenced to flow, and vessels 
drawing twelve feet and ten inches found no difficulty in passing 
over it at high water. 

In the winter of 1850-51, a petition, numerously signed by citi- 
zens of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, was presented to Congress, 
praying for an appropriation for the completion of the piers, but it 
reached Washington at so late a day that it could not be acted on 
during the session which was then drawing to a close. Another 
petition, for the same object, was presented at the session of 1851-52 
and an appropriation of seven thousand five hundred dollars was 
obtained. It may be well here to state the fact that our people are 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 403 

indebted to Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, then United States Senator 
from this State, for this opportune and much needed action of Con- 
gress. Without his unwearied efforts in its behalf, there is abundant 
evidence to show, this appropriation would have been excluded from 
the river and harbor bill. During the summer and autumn of 1853 
this appropriation was very judiciously expended under the superin- 
tendence of Brevet Major General Z. B. Tower, of the corps of 
United States Topographical Engineers, 

The Granite Speculation. 

It was ascertained in July, 1835, that a large number of ledges, 
situated within two or three miles of the village of Kennebunkport 
and within the bounds of that town, which up tfo this time had been 
regarded as of little or no value, were excellent granite quarries; 
the rock was straight grained, would split remarkably well, and of 
excellent color, dark and precisely what is considered most desirable 
for building purposes. One of these ledges had been purchased for 
seventy-five dollars, with the expectation of obtaining material that 
could be used profitably on the pier about to be built at the mouth 
of the river on its eastern side, but nearly five thousand tons had 
been quarried before its excellent qualities were discovered and 
tested. Then came the tide of speculation. Gentlemen from towns 
and cities east and west of Kennebunkport were soon on the ground. 
Ledges and farms containing ledges were sold or bonded at what 
then appeared to be extravagant prices. Companies were formed, 
incorporated, organized, supplied with the necessary tools and 
machinery, and as soon as practicable were in active and successful 
operation. 

This granite was shipped to Portland, Boston, New York and 
other cities for a few years subsequently, and the walls of many 
elegant buildings were constructed of this material, notably in New 
York City, where, in 1836, it was used for the walls of several large 
stores, of a building in Waverly Place and the front of a large hotel 
on Pearl Street, Long and beautiful shafts for monuments in 
cemeteries have been obtained from these ledges, and the granite 
was extensively used for bases of monuments, underpinning and 
other purposes. 

There were four companies incorporated for the working of a 
part of these ledges, viz. : "The Maine Quarrying Association," 
with a capital of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, divided 
into two thousand shares, John Neal, Daniel Winslow and Mason 



404 HISTORV OF KENNEllUNK. 

Greenwood, all of Portland, managers; the " Kennebunkport Gran- 
ite and Railroad Company," with a capital of two hundred thousand 
dollars, Daniel W. Lord, of Kennebunkport, president; the "New 
York City and Kennebunkport Granite Company " and the " Ken- 
nebunk Granite Company." The two last named were incor- 
porated with smaller capitals than the two first named, but a large 
quantity of stone was quarried by each of them. Several unincor- 
porated companies were also engaged in quarrying this stone, and 
for awhile profitably. Kennebunk residents were largely interested 
in nearly all of these corporations. 

Although ledges of excellent granite abound in the town of 
Kennebunkport, those engaged in working them soon found that 
their distance from wharves whence they could be shipped (from 
one and a half to two miles) subjected the companies to no incon- 
siderable cost for handling and cartage, which was not incurred by 
companies engaged in the same business in other places where 
ledges were more favorably situated as to facilities for quarrying 
and shipping. The "Kennebunkport Granite and Railway Com- 
pany" proposed to overcome this serious disadvantage by building 
a railway from some eligible point at the ledges to some convenient 
point on the wharves, by which the stone could be more easily and 
cheaply handled and transported, but a careful calculation of the 
relative merits and cost of the then present and the proposed meth- 
ods convinced those interested in the project that, as an economical 
measure, the railway would unavoidably prove a failure. Finding 
that the stone could not be profitably quarried for exportation, work 
was relinquished by the several companies as early as 1840. Since 
that date these valuable ledges have been worked by private parties 
only, and chiefly to supply the demands for underpinning, cemetery 
work, etc., bv the citizens of Kennebunkport and neighboring towns. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE :MAILS— P. S. & p. RAILROAD. 



A new mail route was established in the county of York in 
1818 which was designed to open a direct and easy communication 
between the towns on the seaboard, in the county, and those of the 
interior. It went into operation on the first day of July in that year. 
It afforded mail facilities to the inhabitants of the county that were 
much needed. No town derived more benefit from its establishment 
than Kennebunk and it was especially valuable to the proprietor of 
the Visiter. The measure was, however, severely criticised by Port- 
land papers, because they fancied that it would operate injuriously 
to their interests, and they assailed the Hon. John Holmes, of 
Alfred, who at the time represented this district in Congress and 
who was the originator of the new route, with strongly vituperative 
language. Mr. Holmes, in a letter to Mr. James K. Remich, editor 
of the Visiter, very satisfactorily vindicated his action in this matter, 
and furnished indisputable proofs that, without the slightest injury 
to Portland people, the new route was a very great as well as a much 
desired accommodation to his constituents. We think that the sub- 
joined extracts from Mr. Holmes's letter will, even at this day, be 
read with interest. 

Before the new arrangement " the mail commenced at Portland 
on Wednesday of each week, passed through Gorham, Buxton, 
Hollis, Limington, Cornish, Parsonsfield, Newfield, Shapleigh and 
Lebanon to Doughty's Falls, a post office not on the main mail route, 
but a branch of it; it then returned by another and different route 
through Sanford, Alfred, Waterborough, Hollis, Buxton and Gorham 
to Portland, where it arrived on Tuesday." "Excepting a mail once 
a week, lately established between Alfred and Kennebunk," these 
were all the mail facilities that had been enjoyed by the interior of 
the county up to the then present time. By way of illustration, " a 
letter is sent from Boston to Sanford ; it goes to Portland, from 
thence it is taken on Wednesday, travels through the back part of 
the county and arrives at Doughty's Falls ; thence it reaches Sanford 
on Saturday; the mail goes on, and not until the next Saturday can 

405 



406 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

an answer be put into the post office; it must then go to Portland, 
where it will arrive on Tuesday and be mailed for Boston." 

By the new route a central spot on the main road was selected 
" from whence to receive the eastern and western mails, to carry 
them to every post office and back to the same place. Kennebunk 
has been preferred ; having regard to the western as well as eastern 
mails, it is nearest. The clerk's office and registry of probate are 
there, and the registry of deeds and treasurer's office are at Alfred^ 
through which each mail passes. The mail as now established will 
commence at Kennebunk Wednesday evening, taking the Boston 
newspapers of the same day and the Portland papers of Tuesday, 
and proceed to Parsonsfield, where it will arrive on Friday morning, 
returning to Kennebunk on Saturday. The people at Alfred will 
get the Argus [and Gazette] the day after, and the Kennebunk 
Visiter, Boston Centiiiel and Patriot the evening of the day they are 
published. . . . An answer to any letter received on this route 
will be sent to Kennebunk and thence, received in Portland the 
same day and in Boston on Sunday." (There were but two papers, 
each a weekly, published in Portland at the date of Mr. Holmes's 
letter, July, 1818, the Argus, Republican, and the Gazette, Federal.) 
"The next mail will leave Kennebunk Saturday evening, taking the 
papers and letters from Boston of the same day, and pass through 
Alfred, Sanford, Lebanon, Shapleigh and Newfield to Parsonsfield, 
where it will arrive Sunday evening. It will return answers to 
Kennebunk on Tuesday morning, from whence they will arrive in 
Portland and Boston on the same day." 

The mails on these routes were carried on horseback. Mr. 
Tucker (brother to Stephen Tucker, of Kennebunk), a veteran in 
the service, was mail carrier for a number of years, until the first of 
January, 1825, when he resigned. He was much esteemed for his 
promptness and fidelity. 

The Hon. John Holmes was re-elected representative to Con- 
gress from York District in November, 18 18. Very few votes were 
thrown. Whether Mr. Holmes's action in obtaining the new mail 
route was the cause of this unanimity we are unable to say; there 
is reason to suppose that such was the fact. 

A post office was established in Lyman in March, 18 19, and 
Thomas Sands was appointed postmaster. Previously, a large part 
of the mail matter for Lyman people was received through the 
Kennebunk post office; a few, where it was more convenient for 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 407 

them, obtained their mail matter through the Saco or Alfred oflfice. 

The town of Wells petitioned the Circuit Court of Common 
Pleas, April term, 1818, that so much of the new road from the toll 
bridge to Cole's Corner (which was established by said Court in 
18 1 7) as lies between said Corner and the place where the same 
intersects the road leading to the sea (near the dwelling-house of 
Samuel Hart) may be discontinued. The petitioners allege that the 
advantages anticipated to result to the public from the location of 
this road have in a great measure ceased; ''that the line of stages 
which, for a short period, passed from Cole's Corner to and from 
Saco [and Portland] by the way of Lower Kennebunk, so-called, 
have ceased to travel in that direction, and all other traveling on 
said road is almost wholly at an end; that the ground over which 
the western end of the road was ordered to be made is mostly wet 
and miry, salt marsh and heath ; that the damages to land owners 
and cost of construction will be very considerable ; that a road now 
exists and for a great number of years has existed from the afore- 
said Cole's Corner to where the new road aforesaid, from said Lower 
Kennebunk, intersects the road leading to the sea, near the dwell- 
ing-house of Samuel Hart, which is safe, easy and convenient for 
travelling, and not unusually crooked or circuitous, and that the 
saving in distance by opening the said new road, as located on this 
part of it, will not warrant the expenses attendant thereon." The 
Court did not grant the prayer of the petitioners. 

In 1824 and for several years previous to that date the great 
mail from Boston to Portland was carried alternately through Salem, 
Newburyport, Portsmouth, York, Kennebunk, Saco, etc., and on the 
upper route through Andover, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, Doughty's 
Falls to Kennebunk, where it met the lower. An attempt was made 
by Mr. Holmes, in 1824, to change this arrangement so "that this 
upper route, instead of falling into the lower at Kennebunk, should 
continue from Dover to Doughty's Falls, as heretofore, and instead 
of going to the lower route at Kennebunk to pass through Sanford, 
Alfred, Buxton and Gorham to Portland," through which towns a 
line of stages had then been recently established, going and return- 
ing every other week day. The citizens of Kennebunk and Saco 
were indignant at this movement and indulged in some pretty strong 
denunciatory comments through the columns of the Gazette. They 
appealed to headquarters and succeeded in defeating this scheme, 
the postmaster general permitting a mail to be carried by the 
interior route as above described. 



408 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The "Portland Stage Company'" commenced running a stage- 
coach from Kennebunkport to Saco, there to meet the Portland 
stage, in May, 1826, "leaving Kennebunkport Mondays, Wednes- 
days and Fridays at six a. m., arriving at Saco at half-past seven 
and at Portland at ten a. m. ; returning, leaves Portland at four p, m. 
and arrives at Kennebunkport by eight p. m. Leaving Kennebunk- 
port Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays by half-past eleven a. m. 
for Kennebunk and returning same day." Fare from Kennebunk- 
port to Saco, fifty cents ; from Saco to Portland, seventy-five cents. 
How long this arrangement continued we are unable to say, but 
probably not longer than a year. 

The great mail from Boston to Portland, which had for a year 
or more been carried by the way of Dover four times a week, was 
ordered by the postmaster general, in January, 1827, to be carried 
on the lower road every day. This was highly advantageous to 
Kennebunk, as the mails reached here nearly two hours earlier by 
the lower route than by the upper. The accommodation stage from 
Dover to Portland brought the mails from the towns on the upper 
road three times a week. 

The mail and accommodation stages arrived and departed from 
this village, January, 183 1, as follows : " Eastern mail every morning 
at seven, western mail every morning at eight. The Dover stage, 
bringing the upper road mail, arrives every secular day at noon and 
returns at one p. m. on same day. Country mail Wednesdays and 
Saturdays at seven a. m. and returns same day at about nine a. m. 
Kennebunkport mail leaves every secular day at about nine a. m. 
and returns same evening. The Eastern accommodation stage 
arrives from Portland (bringing a mail for Dover and other towns) 
every secular day at noon, dines at Kennebunk and leaves for Ports- 
mouth at one p. m. The Western accommodation stage arrives 
every secular day at noon, dines at Kennebunk and leaves for Port- 
land with Dover mail at one." 

There were no material changes in the transportation of the 
mails on the stage routes through this town from the date last 
named until the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad performed 
that service in 1843. 

P. S. & P. Railroad. 

The survey of a route for a railroad from Portsmouth, through 
York, Wells, Kennebunk, Saco, etc., was completed June 25, 1836. 
The Lowell Railroad had then been in operation more than a year; 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 409 

the Boston & Andover Road was also in operation, and its extension 
to Haverhill was regarded as quite certain. A railway from Boston 
to Salem was completed a year or two later, and no doubt existed 
that it would be extended from Salem to Portsmouth. The Eastern 
Railroad, from Newburyport to Portsmouth, was opened for travel 
and freight about the middle of November, 1840, 

The first train of cars passed over the railroad from Portland 
to Saco, or to the then present stopping place, which was a mile or 
more out of the village, in the forenoon of February 7, 1842. The 
principal city officials, the president and one of the directors of the 
road, gentlemen of the press and other citizens occupied the car. 
A great concourse of the people of Portland witnessed the starting 
of the train. In the afternoon a number of the citizens of Saco 
went into Portland over the road, and on Tuesday, the eighth, the 
cars commenced running regularly. 



CHAPTER X. 

BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF KENNEBUNK IN 1820 ADVERTISING COL- 
UMNS FROM 1820 TO 1842. 

The Business Directory of this town at the date of its incorpor- 
ation was made up as follows: — 

Baker. Heard Milliken, successor to Benjamin Smith in the 
building erected by Mr. Cole as a part of his tannery works. 

Blacksmiths. Village — Elisha Chadbourne, Dimon Gillpatrick 
Jacob Waterhouse, Stephen Furbish. Landing — John Emery, John 
Jones. Alewive — David Littlefield. 

Butcher. Rufus Furbish "at Capt. Ralph Curtis's Slaughter 
House." 

Cabinet Makers and House Carpenters. Village — Daniel 
Hodsdon, Chadbouri.e & Junkins. (Attached to each of these estab- 
lishments was a wareroom well supplied with furniture of all kinds.) 
Landing — Samuel Hubbard (also house painter). Port District — 
Edward White. 

Carding and Cloth Dressing. Paul Hussey. 

Clergymen. Nathaniel H. Fletcher, pastor of Unitarian 
Church; Joshua Roberts, pastor of Calvinist Baptist Church in 
Alewive. 

Clothier. Nathaniel Jefferds. 

Coopers. John Mitchell, Sanford Road ; Lemuel Hatch, at 
the "Heath." 

Grist-Mills. One near the Upper Dam and one near the 
Lower Dam in the village, Mitchell's at Cat Mousam. 

Inns and Innkeepers, Jefferds's House, Proprietor, George 
Jefferds (son of William, by whom it was established); Barnard 
House, kept by Rachel Barnard (widow of Joseph Barnard); Robert 
Patten's Inn (the dwelling-house of Henry Jordan). 

Law Offices. Joseph Thomas, Chief Justice of the Court of 
Sessions for York County; Joseph Dane, George W. Wallingford, 
William B. Sewall, Judge of Probate. 

410 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 411 

Physicians. Village — Samuel Emerson, Jacob Fisher. 
Landing — James Dorrance, (removed to Portland in the fall of 1820). 

Printing Office. James K. Remich, proprietor. The Weekly 
Visiter. (The title was changed to Kennebunk Gazette, June, 182 1.) 

Private School. John Skeele (Washington Hall). 

Saddlers. Nathaniel Shute, Palmer Walker. 

Saw-Mills. Storer's, in the village, mill on Kennebunk River, 
mill at Cat Mousam, mill on Alewive Brook and Day's mill. 

Shipyards and Shipbuilders (all at the Landing on Kenne- 
bunk River). Nathaniel Gillpatrick, David Little, John Bourne, 
Jacob Perkins, George and Ivory Lord, Isaac Kilham, Hugh 
McCulIoch. 

Shoemakers. Village — Moses Littlefield, Samuel Littlefield, 
Jr., Benjamin Littlefield, Abel M. Bryant, Daniel Shackley, Daniel 
Shackley, Jr. ; morocco shoes, Moses Varney. Landing — Benjamin 
Elwell (successor of his father, John Elwell, occuping the shop and 
house built by him near Durrell's Bridge many years previously). 

Tailors. Village — Stephen Tucker, Samuel Mendum, Simon 
Ross. Landing — Dayton. 

Tanners and Curriers. Edmund Pierson, successor to 
Joseph Curtis, Scotchman's Brook (just back of the Sargent-Ross 
Block; Jotham Perkins, Scotchman's Brook on the new road 
(Fletcher Street); Daniel Shackley, River Road; Tobias Walker, 
Alewive. 

Traders. Village — John U. Parsons & Co., William Lord, 
Smith & Porter, James Titcomb, John Osborn & Co., Samuel L. 
Osborn, Joseph G. Moody, Barnabas Palmer, Michael Wise, William 
Gillpatrick, Ebenezer Curtis, Timothy Frost, *Samuel Ross, *Adoni- 
ram Hardison, *Abial Kelley, Jr. Apothecaries, Jacob Fisher, John 
Lillie. Landing — George and Ivory Lord, Adam McCulloch, Joel 
Larrabee, Jr., Isaac Kilham, David Little, Samuel Lord and George 
W. Bourne. Port {Lower Village) — Daniel Walker. Aleivive — *John 
Stone, Jacob Littlefield. 

Those with this mark * sold groceries only. All the others 
named kept large stocks, for country stores, of piece goods. West 
India goods and groceries; several kept good supplies of hard and 
hollow ware, crockery, etc. 



412 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The advertising columns from 1820 to 1842 again furnish 
interesting information respecting men and occurrences in our town 
during nearly a quarter of a century after its incorporation. 



January 29. Titcomb & Skeele dissolve copartnership. James 
Titcomb continues the business. 

February. Samuel Hubbard, cabinet maker and painter, com- 
mences business in the shop owned by David Little. 

Eliphalet Dame advertises marble work, 

March 13. John Skeele opens a private school at Washington 
Hall. It was well patronized. 

April I. Jefferds & Hussey give notice that their copartner- 
ship will expire by limitation on that date. 

April 14, William Lord takes the store recently vacated by J. 
M. Hayes (removed to Kennebunkport) and offers for sale a large 
stock of goods. 

John C. Hatch advertises his farm for sale. The farm is about 
two miles from the meeting-house, with good house and barn ; about 
eighty acres of land. (This farm was on the road leading from the 
Sanford road to Cat Mousam. A slight excavation, showing the 
location of the house cellar, and a few apple trees wearing the marks 
of age and neglect are all that now remain.) 

1821. 

March. Samuel L. Osborn & Co. (Samuel L. and James 
Osborn) dissolve partnership ; the senior partner takes the store — 
east — under Washington Hall and continues business there. John 
and James Osborn, Jr., form a copartnership in May and transact 
business in the store lately occupied by the first-named firm. 

May. Dr. B. F. Greene, physician and surgeon, moved to this 
town and occupied the house then recently vacated by Doctor Dor- 
rance at the Landing. He remained here a few months only. 

Dr. John Wise (son of Daniel) moved to this town in May from 
Sherburne, Mass., where he had been located several years as a 
physician. He was a surgeon in the United States Navy a short 
time during the war of 1812-15. 

September. Abial Kelley and Alexander Warren, hatters, dis- 
solve copartnership. The business was not continued by either 
partner. 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 413 

James Titcomb and Owen Burnham formed copartnership, 
country store (Free Library Association Building). 

October. Israel W. Bourne opens a private school in the vil- 
lage, which was continued about three years. Mr. Bourne removed 
to Dover, N. H., in October, 1824, and later to Boston, where he 
was a bookkeeper in a wholesale commercial house. 

October 15. The sharpshooters of Kennebunk, Kennebunk- 
port and Wells are invited "to conglomerate at Jefferds's Hotel to 
make arrangements for a shooting-party." 

1822. 

March. Moses Varney relinquished business in this town and 
moved to Dover, N. H. 

April 15. John U. Parsons & Co. (Parsons, Thomas Drew 
and Moses Savary) dissolved copartnership. Their stock in trade 
was sold at auction. They were succeeded by Thomas Drew & Co. 

August 4. Benjamin Mayo advertises that he has purchased 
the " Nason's Mills establishment," on eastern side of Kennebunk 
River and a few rods above the bridge on the main road to Portland; 
has put it in first-rate order for carding wool and for coloring, fulling 
and dressing cloth. He has also a grist-mill in operation. John G. 
Mayo owned and operated the carding machines. 

Paul H. Hussey gives notice that he continues carding, cloth 
dressing and cloth manufacturing at his old stand, near Mousam 
Bridge. 

John Skeele offers for sale the store in western end of the 
Washington Hall building, "unquestionably the best stand in Ken- 
nebunk." 

November i. Jacob Witham, who lived midway between the 
Village and the Landing (nearly opposite John Drown's, his house 
long since demolished), a harmless man, publishes an "Important 
Notice" that he "has discovered a simple yet safe remedy for many 
disorders," and he informs the public that he will attend to giving 
relief to the afflicted by the exercise of his own natural power, gratis, 
at his house or at the shipyard where he is generally employed, it 
being a power given him as he thinks by "divine inspiration." 
Jacob gained great celebrity for curing aching teeth by "charming" 
them. He could not charge anything for his cures, inasmuch as by 
so doing his power would be withheld from him, but he would accept, 
and always expected, a present from those who received benefit from 
the exercise of his wonderful gift. 



414 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

1823. 

April 4. Hodsdon & Low (Daniel Hodsdon and Samuel B. 
Low), cabinet makers, dissolve copartnership. 

John H. Hilton, manufacturer of cabinet furniture and repairer 
and painter of carriages, takes a shop at Kennebunk Landing, near 
the residence of David Little, where he carries on the several 
branches of his business; also, keeps wagons constantly for sale. 

May. George H. Dearborn manufactures and sells "at whole- 
sale and retail Ladies' and Gentlemen's morocco shoes and boots" 
at his shop, "nearly opposite Rev. Mr. Fletcher's Meeting House 
and near the Printing office." This was a small building which 
stood on the lot now improved as a passage way west of the old 
printing office building. Dearborn left town within a year and was 
succeeded by Putnam Hartshorn. The building remained there 
only two or three years. 

John G. Mayo in May removes his carding machines from 
Nason's Mills "down the river about a quarter of a mile to what 
was formerly called Merrill's Mills." 

July II. Samuel Smith gives notice that he has erected a new 
carding machine at Nason's Mills. 

"At the Baptist Meeting House in York. On Lord's Day next 
this House will be free for the Sons and Daughters of Zion to wait 
on the Lord and honor him that hath made them free. Also, the 
Family of Egypt may have another opportunity to come up to Jeru- 
salem to keep the feast in Tabernacles, or, if they refuse, they must 
not expect to have any rain of the Spirit on them. Hypocrites, Mon- 
grels and Lepers are desired to withdraw. 

Samuel Junkins, Servant of the Church of Christ in York. 
York, August i, 1823." 

Junkins, aged fifty-five, was married to Mrs. Olive Williams, 
aged thirty-five, in July, 1824, at York. They had "spiritually 
united" about six months previously, but this defiance of the laws, 
both moral and statutory, was so bitterly denounced that the par- 
ties thought it prudent to be legally married, or, as they expressed 
it, "united after the manner of the beast." Junkins was a crank 
and was a shining light among the followers of Cochrane. He 
attempted, as it would seem, to build up and become the head of a 
new sect, but found little encouragement. At the October term of 
the Court of Common Pleas, 1824, Junkins was fined twenty dollars 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



415 



and costs, in all forty dollars, and his wife five dollars and costs, in 
all about thirty-nine dollars, for willfully disturbing a meeting held 
at the Baptist meeting-house in York on the Lord's Day. 

October. Greenough, Bodwell & Co. (Edward Greenough, John 
W. Bodwell and Moses Savary) succeed to the late firm of Thomas 
Drew & Co., which was dissolved the eleventh of the month, and 
take the store and stock of the old firm. 

December 31. Titcomb & Burnham dissolve copartnership. 
Mr. Titcomb removes to the Landing and Mr. Burnham continues 
business at the old stand. 

1824. 

January 14. William and Oliver Bartlett, bakers, dissolve 
copartnership. 

November. Greenough, Bodwell & Co. dissolve partnership, 
J. W. Bodwell retiring. 

Wise & Bodwell (Daniel Wise and John W. Bodwell) form 
copartnership and commence business, general merchandise, in the 
Phcenix Building. (The old brick store, after being repaired and 
improved by Mr. Isaac Lord, was known for several years as the 
"Phoenix Building.") 

Erastus Hayes and Daniel Walker formed a copartnership and 
took the store at the head of Curtis's Wharf, Lower Kennebunk; 
dealers in general merchandise. 

1825. 

January i. Lord & Kingsbury (William Lord and Henry 
Kingsbury) form a partnership. 

George W. Bourne, at Kennebunk Landing, advertises winter 
stock of goods; buys ship timber and plank. 

The cellar under part of Kelley & Warren's building continues 
open for accommodation of teamsters and others. A long one-story 
building fitted up with stalls for horses and tie-ups for oxen, situated 
nearly opposite the present dwelling-house of C. C. Stevens, was 
built and maintained by the lessee of the cellar, Abial Kelley, Jr. 
After the lumber business had fallen ofif, so that the building was no 
longer used for the purpose for which it was originally intended, it 
was converted into a " Ninepin Alley," and was used as such and 
fairly patronized for two or three years. Not proving profitable, the 
building was taken down. 



416 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

William Williams kept an assortment of goods in the store 
under Washington Hall, eastern end. 

March. Daniel Wise, Jr., has built a store on the eastern end 
of and connected with the "old brick" store, and removed his stock 
of goods thereto. Francis A. Lord occupies store vacated by Wise 
& Bodwell and keeps for sale a good assortment of general merchan- 
dise ; he disposed of his stock at auction and retired from business, 
September 20, 1826. 

Barnabas Palmer removes his stock of goods and the post 
office to the store in the western part of the "old brick." 

June 3. Jonathan Kimball occupies building recently vacated 
by Paul H. Hussey; has put a new carding machine therein and 
solicits patronage, 

July 16. Daniel L. Hatch occupies store vacated by S. L. 
Osborn and offers for sale an assortment of goods usually kept in a 
country store ; removes to store recently vacated by Barnabas 
Palmer in Kelley & Warren's Block ; sells stock remaining on hand 
at auction, June 28, 1827, and relinquishes business. 

August 25. William Bartlett occupies store east of Kelley & 
Warren's block and offers for sale a full assortment of dry goods, 
groceries, crockery, etc. He remained there only a few months, 
when he removed to Ogunquit, taking with him his stock of goods, 
opened a store there and engaged in the building of vessels of 
small tonnage. He was the first postmaster at that place. 

September 3. Samuel Shackley advertises house for sale at 
the Landing, "near Mr. David Little's." 

October i. Lord & Kingsbury remove their stock of goods to 
the new brick store built by the senior partner, and Joseph G. 
Moody removes from the store under Washington Hall (west) to the 
store vacated by Lord & Kingsbury. 

Daniel Wise, Jr., & Co. advertise the "small convenient store 
on the corner by the road leading from this town to Alfred." This 
probably was the building that stood between the printing ofiice 
and the lot on which William Lord built his brick store. 

December 12. James Titcomb forms a copartnership with 
Robert Smith, Jr., at Kennebunk Landing; advertises a full assort- 
ment of general merchandise for sale, and that they wish to pur- 
chase ship timber, etc. 

December 30. Daniel Wise, Jr., & Co. dissolve partnership, 
business to be continued at the new store adjoining the "old brick" 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 417 

under the firm name of Daniel Wise & Co., John Frost active 
partner. 

Timothy Walcott's provision store, east end of Washington 
Hall building. 

1826. 

January. Edward Gould, in store opposite the "old brick," 
manufactures men's and youths' hats and buys hatting and shipping 
furs. 

February. Dr. Burleigh Smart removes from Kennebunkport 
to Kennebunk and occupies house recently built by him (residence 
of F. N, Thompson). 

February i8. Edmund Pierson gives notice to debtors that he 
is about to remove from this town. 

March 6. The post office at Cape Neddock, York, first opened ; 
Samuel Adams, postmaster. 

April 5. First meeting of the members and stockholders of the 
Quamphegan Manufacturing Company in South Berwick was held. 

April 17. John Fiddler advertises his household furniture, etc., 
at auction at his house (on lot now occupied by Capt. Benjamin 
Oaks's dwelling-house. Lower Village). Mr. Fiddler died early in 
July following. He was an Englishman by birth, a sailmaker by 
trade, and a great admirer and a successful cultivator of flowers; 
the grounds around his house were very tastefully laid out and 
filled with a large variety of annuals, biennials and perennials. His 
family removed to a W^estern town. 

April 21. James L. Ross, "in the old Phoenix Building over 
the post office," continues the tailoring business. 

April 22. Abel C. Smith occupies the Ebenezer Curtis store 
and offers for sale a large stock of general merchandise. 

May. The Misses Grant commence a term of school for young 
ladies the third Monday of the month. "English branches taught. 
Also plain and ornamental needlework. Lace veils and edgings 
may be wrought so as not to be distinguished from those imported. 
Drawing, landscape painting in oil and water colors, painting on 
velvet, embroidery, tambour and filigree work. Tuition, three dol- 
lars per quarter for ornamental branches, one dollar and fifty cents 
for common branches. Board, including tuition, from fourteen to 
seventeen dollars per quarter." 

27 



418 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

August. Erastus Hayes and Daniel Walker, general merchan- 
dise, who occupied the store on Curtis's Wharf, Lower Village, dis- 
solved copartnership. Walker continues the business at the same 
stand. 

August 2 1. Joseph E. Littlefield commences a term of his pri- 
vate school in the village. Mr. Littlefield was a successful teacher. 
He not long afterward removed to Bangor, where he taught school 
for many years and was much respected as a citizen and highly 
valued as an instructor. 

October 7. John Springer, at store just vacated by A. C. 
Smith, advertises a good stock of groceries for sale. Mr. Smith did 
not continue in trade at this place more than two years. 

November. Miss Lucy Palmer advertises that she attends to 
the mantua-making business in the room adjoining Miss Grant's 
millinery shop. 

December 30. Rowell Scribner occupies the cellar recently 
vacated by Abial Kelley, Jr. ; accommodates teamsters and others 
and keeps an assortment of groceries for sale. 

1827. 

February 17. Charles Walcott, joiner, advertises for appren- 
tice; forms copartnership with Nathaniel Perkins March twenty- 
second, shop next east of Porter & Hillard's tin shop; dissolves 
partnership May seventh. Walcott continues business and will also 
be supplied with a good assortment of household furniture for sale. 

March 17. Susan Felch, milliner and dressmaker, offers her 
services to the ladies of Kennebunk and vicinity, shop over post 
office, in the "old brick building." 

May 23. Dr. William S. Emerson, physician and surgeon, 
takes the room recently vacated by Doctor Markoe, in the bank 
building in Kennebunkport, and offers his professional services to 
the citizens of that and the neighboring towns. 

Moses Nason resumes business, carding and cloth dressing, at 
Nason's Mills in Kennebunkport. 

May 28. Miss Caroline M. Little commences a school for the 
instruction of young ladies and misses in all the branches usually 
taught in academic schools, in Washington Hall. 

August. Rufus Furbish offers for sale a neat one-story dwell- 
ing-house, barn, blacksmith's shop and three-fourths of an acre of 
land. (Now owned by Mrs. William Storer. The house has been 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 419 

enlarged and otherwise much improved since the above-named date. 
This was the first house built on Mechanic Street ; the street was 
thea nothing more than a lane, along the sides of which hazel bushes 
were abundant and in their season hazelnuts were gathered there in 
large quantities.) 

Paul H. Hussey removed to Cat Mousam Falls in August, 
where he carried on the cloth dressing business. 

October. "Tales of the Night," a novel by Mrs. Sallie Wood, 
of this town, author of "Julia," "The Speculator," "The Old Man's 
Story," etc. 

November 5. The whole stock in trade of Owen Burnham was 
sold at auction ; the sale continued for several days until the stock 
was disposed of. Mr. Burnham relinquished trade and removed to 
Bridgton. 

Jesse L. Smith opens a school for instruction in penmanship. 
Mr. Smith was employed as teacher in the public school in the 
Village District for several terms, 

November 8. William Gooch, assignee, sells at auction the 
entire stock of goods in the store of William Bartlett, at Ogunquit, 
A high-decked vessel of one hundred and ten tons, built by Bartlett, 
was subsequently sold by the assignee. 



February 2. The home lot formerly owned and improved by 
Ebenezer Rand, devised by him to one Shackley, and by Shackley 
exchanged for a small farm in Lyman, belonging to Samuel B. Low, 
was sold by Low. Shackley removed to Lyman and Low to the Rand 
place. Low purchased or hired the building east of the Kelley & 
Warren building and for several years carried on the cabinet-making 
business quite extensively; he employed skilled workmen and man- 
ufactured some excellent furniture. He subsequently relinquished 
business here and removed to Sanford, 

March. James L, Ross removes to Saco. 

March 31. Oliver Bartlett sells at auction a house lot on Dane 
Street, together with a stable recently erected and a house frame 
with other lumber, window frames, etc. (This place subsequently 
became the property of Miss Mary Warren.) 

April 9. William Lord sells his stock of goods at auction with 
the purpose of engaging in other business. He again occupied his 
store in 1830. 



420 HISTORY OF KENNEllUNK. 

April II. The farm, with the buildings thereon, owned and 
occupied for many years by Rev. N. H. Fletcher, was advertised to 
be let. Mr. George Perkins rented the estate two years, when it 
was sold to Nathaniel M. Towle. 

April 15. Mrs. Murray, from Portland, opens a school for 
young ladies in Washington Hall, which she continued through the 
summer season; she was a popular and excellent teacher and her 
school was well patronized for two or three seasons. Mrs. Murray's 
husband was a major in the English service and had retired on half 
pay; he resided here while his wife was engaged in teaching. Mrs. 
Murray went from here to Hallowell, where she had a very large 
number of pupils and where she was greatly prized as a teacher. 

November 14. Benjamin Dodge, in the store formerly occupied 
by Isaac Kilham, at Kennebunk Landing, offers for sale a good 
assortment of West India goods and groceries. 

Daniel Shackford takes the bakehouse recently occupied by 
Oliver Bartlett and will carry on the baking business in all its 
branches ; advertises flour for sale and that he wishes to buy hem- 
lock and spruce faggots. 

1829. 

February 28. The privilege where Merrill's mill formerly 
stood is advertised to lease for a term of ten years to a person dis- 
posed to erect a saw-mill thereon. The iron work, frame and boards 
belonging to Merrill's mill are advertised for sale. The frame had 
been taken down and with all the other woodwork piled up near by. 

May 21. Porter & Hillard, tin business, dissolve copartnership. 

November. Increase S. Kimball opens a law office over Lord 
& Kingsbury's store. 

December. Edward Gould relinquishes the manufacture of 
hats and enters into the butchering and meat-market business. 
Continues the sale of hats, etc., until the fall of 1831, when he 
devotes his attention wholly to the meat business. 

1830. 

March i. Town & English take the bakehouse recently vacated 
by Daniel Shackford and carry on the baking business. Shackford 
continues the business at his dwelling-house. 

Smith & Porter dissolve copartnership. Smith occupies the 
store and sells groceries at wholesale. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 421 

March 25. Joseph G. Moody sells his stock of goods at auc- 
tion, relinquishes trade here and removes to Augusta. 

William Lord procures a patent hay pressing machine, purchases 
loose hay from the farmers in this and the neighboring towns, has 
it pressed and ships to Southern ports. We do not know whether 
it was a profitable enterprise or otherwise, but it was very beneficial 
to hay growers in the vicinity. The barn and press were eventually 
destroyed by fire and Mr. Lord relinquished the business. 

April 18. Bracy Curtis offers for sale, at auction, the William 
B. Nason farm (formerly known as the Currier farm), situated a few 
rods east of Rev. Mr. Wells's meeting-house, containing about forty- 
five acres, with farm buildings. The buildings were torn down a 
few years later. N. N. Wiggins's homestead lot is a part of this 
farm, as is also a portion of Hope Cemetery. 

August I. Joseph W. Tinum, a trader in Lower Kennebunk 
Village, relinquishes business. 

August 20. John Emery &: Co. (John Emery and Joseph Gill- 
patrick) dissolve copartnership. Emery, who had an excellent rep- 
utation as a manufacturer of edge tools, continues the business. 

October 13. Greenough, Bodwell <S: Co. (Benjamin Smithj 
Horace Porter, Edward Greenough and John W. Bodwell) dissolve 
copartnership. Benjamin Smith adjusts the unsettled accounts of 
the firm. Stock in trade sold at auction February 24, 183 1. 

October 15. Chadbourne & Junkins dissolve copartnership. 

Dr. James Dorrance returns to this town from Portland and 
offers his professional services to the inhabitants. 

November 15. The tanyard and buildings appurtenant thereto, 
the property of the late Jotham Perkins, were sold at auction. 

December 25. Gould & Fairfield take the shop recently occu- 
pied by the late Edmund Lord and intend carrying on the black- 
smith's business. 

1831. 

January 7, Town & English, bakers, dissolve copartnership. 
English continues the business. 

March. Andrews & Bryant dissolve copartnership. 

March 12. Palmer & Miller have removed to the "old brick" and 
occupy the late stand of Greenough, Bodwell & Co. Dissolve copart- 
nership the twentieth of March the following year. Miller continues 
the business. About a year later he formed a copartnership with 
Porter Hall and Palmer resumed business as a trader in January, 1834. 



422 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

April 4. I. B. N. Gould, tailor, commences business in town. 

October 20. The three-story dwelling-house, store and building 
yard at the Landing is sold at auction by order of assignment of 
Tobias Lord ; George and Ivory Lord, purchasers. 

October 27. Daniel Wise & Co. (Daniel Wise and John Frost) 
dissolve copartnership. Wise continues the business until the fol- 
lowing March, when he disposed of the stock at auction and the 
building was advertised "to be let." 

October 29. The building formerly occupied by Andrews & 
Bryant as a shoe store, and now by Alexander G. Fernald as a bake- 
house, is offered for sale at auction by Abel M. Bryant. 

1832. 

May 2. Christopher Littlefield opens a private school in the 
village. 

June 7. Joseph Storer sells Nathaniel Frost house at auction. 

1833- 
June. John G. Mayo, in the store recently vacated by Owen 
Burnham, offers for sale "a general assortment of dry goods, gro- 
ceries, crockery and glassware." Mr. Maj'o relinquished business 
and left town during the summer of 1836. 

1834. 

November. William Williams vacates store under Washington 
Hall. 

December 30. Dr. J. H. Morse commences practice as a 
physician. 

1835- 

April 28. Joseph O. Stevens, hat store, under Washington 
Hall. Remained there perhaps two years. 

Mr. Badlam, — school for painting and drawing, — an exception- 
ally fine teacher; he kept two or three terms here during the summer 
and autumn, and was well patronized. 

August 15. Miller & Hall dissolve copartnership. Hall con- 
tinued the business. Miller left town. 

1836. 

April 18. James and Isaac Lord dissolve copartnership. James 
Lord continues the business. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, ' 423 

May 31. Bryant & Warren (William M. Bryant and Alexander 
Warren) advertise drugs and medicines at the small store on the 
corner of Main and Fletcher Streets. Succeeded Doctor Smart, in 
Kelley & Warren block, October, 1837. Dissolve copartnership 
November, 1838. Warren continued the business. 

1837- 

March. James Hubbard, in western store under Washington 
Hall, advertises good stock of paints, oils, etc., for sale. 

Gould & Hubbard (Edward Gould and William Hubbard), 
butchering business. 

William Lord and Joseph Curtis, under firm name of William 
Lord & Co., form copartnership for the sale of general merchandise. 

April. S. Lombard, tailor. Frost's building. 

July 15. William Leighton, Littlefield's building (triangular 
lot), offers for sale a large stock of general merchandise ; sells stock 
at auction in April of the following year and removes from tov/n. 

October. S. Jordan, carpenter, purchases Doctor Smart's stock 
of drugs and medicines and removes it to his store under Washing- 
ton Hall, lately vacated by William Williams. Afterward removes 
his stock to a small building erected by him on the heater lot formed 
by junction of the old and new Saco roads. 

October 14. Simon L. Whitten, tailor, succeeds Lombard. 

1838. 

February i, William and Thomas Lord, owners of the "Great 
Hill Farm," so-called, gave public notice "that the farm has been 
sold and deeded to Benjamin Wentworth, Joseph Gooch, Nathan 
Wells and Joseph Wells, with the following reservation in the deed, 
reserving to the inhabitants of Kennebunk the right of taking sea- 
weed as they have heretofore enjoyed." 

March 28. Charles W. Kimball takes the building east of 
Bryant & Warren's drug store, where he manufactures and repairs 
carriages of all kinds. 

R. C. Raynes takes a shop in Littlefield's building, near the 
factory, for the manufacturing and repairing of boots and shoes, 
and offers for sale a good assortment of boots, shoes, etc. 

July 17. Jeremiah Bradbury, lawyer, opens an office in the 
building formerly occupied by William Safiford as a hatter's shop. 
He remained here only a few months. 



424 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

December. Hildreth & Ayers, manufacturers of first-class fur- 
niture, keep a large stock of furniture, feathers, etc. Sell out at 
auction, August, 1840, and leave town. 

1839. 

March i. H. H. Chadbourne takes the shop formerly occupied 
by his father, Elisha Chadbourne, and carries on the blacksmith's 
business. 

Oaks & Cousens (Bradford Oaks and James G. Cousens) formed 
a copartnership and offered for sale a good assortment of general 
merchandise at the store in Lower Kennebunk Village afterward 
occupied by James G. Cousens. The copartnership was dissolved 
in February, 1842. 

May 14. Jonathan Stone sells Mousam House at auction, hav- 
ing relinquished the hotel business on account of ill health. 

August. Benjamin F. Emery, lawyer, takes office vacated by 
Jeremiah Bradbury. Mr. Emery removed to Boston a year or two 
later. 

1840. 

Abial Kelley, Jr., occupies a store formerly improved by Bryant 
& Warren, and offers for sale a stock of general merchandise. Mr, 
Kelley later removed to West Kennebunk and was a trader there 
for several years. He was appointed postmaster on the establish- 
ment of a post office in that village. 

March 14. The copartnership existing under the firm name of 
P. & A. Walker was dissolved. Andrew Walker continued the 
business. 

November. Daniel Hodsdon sold his dwelling-house at auction 
(afterward owned and occupied by Benjamin Perkins). 

Noah Pike, botanic physician (rooms and office in house after- 
ward owned by Eben Huff ; he did not locate here but a short time). 

1841. 

April 5. Lord & Curtis dissolve copartnership. Under same 
date Joseph Curtis &: Co. is formed (Joseph Curtis, William F. and 
William C. Lord). 

June. Samuel Kimball opens a fish market "in the building 
adjoining the grist-mill." 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 425 

November 20. Charles Herrick opens a boot and shoe store in 
the store (east) under Washington Hall. 

Enoch Hardy advertises a handsome stock of English and 
American piece goods, crockery and glassware, groceries, etc. 

1842. 

Capt. Charles Williams occupied the eastern store under Wash- 
ington Hall and offered a large stock of groceries, at wholesale, 
during the years 1842 and '43, when he relinquished business and 
was succeeded by William Williams, groceries at retail. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EARLY METHOD OF GOING TO MARKET MOUSAM RIVER LEGEND 

THE TORNADO THE FRESHET CULTIVATION OF HEMP CENSUS 

OF 1830 — METEORIC SHOWER THE SLIDE — ORTHOGRAPHY OF 

THE WORD " MOUSAM " AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF 
INTEREST DATING FROM 1820 TO 1 8 43. 

There were many unsuccessful attempts to maintain a meat 
market in the village before it was found possible to establish one 
that would afford the proprietor a fair remuneration for his labor 
and outlay. Beef was brought in occasionally from the country, 
and now and then, in the village or its vicinity, an ox or a coW would 
be slaughtered, a part of which would be marketed. Veal and lamb 
were abundant in the season for such meats, but as vehicles were 
much less common then than now they were usually brought on 
horseback and stowed in saddlebags ; it may well be supposed that 
neither in quality nor appearance would they be improved after hav- 
ing been subjected to from five to fifteen miles' travel by this mode 
of transportation and mellowed by the peculiar motion caused by 
the animal's gait. It would be an amusing spectacle, in these days, 
should a woman — women generally did the marketing, especially 
during the season when the labor of the men was greatly needed on 
the farm — come into town on horseback, with flopping saddlebags, 
filled on both sides with quarters of veal or lamb, the bare joints of 
which protruded from six to eight inches outside the leather; but it 
was no unusual sight in days gone by, and one that excited neither 
special observation nor a disposition for merriment. Among the 
women who passed through our streets in this manner were those 
who were pure in heart, noble in mind and exemplary in every walk 
in life ; they were the descendants of those who felled the forest 
and made the wilderness habitable, — the once rough and unsightly 
thus made productive and beautiful, — who successfully contended 
with the wily savage and who, defying poverty and danger, left their 
homes to engage in the great contest for freedom. These women 
made no apologies for homespun dresses ; never declared that they 
"looked like frights"; that if the "weather had not been so threatening 

426 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 427 

in the morning they should have worn their silk dresses"; that 
"going to market was novel business to them, but the 'Squire or 
Papa was engaged at home with gentlemen visiting him from the city, 
and so they put on a bold front and came themselves." There was 
none of this ; the women of yore were practical women, to whom we of 
the present day owe a debt of gratitude rarely appreciated, seldom 
acknowledged. 

The market man or woman usually disposed of his or her load 
to one of the traders, by whom, if it were meat of any kind, it was 
hung out on the store door or window shutter as a notice that it 
was for sale ; here the rays of the sun, the dust raised by the 
breeze or passing carriages, and the unauthorized, but unavoidable, 
attentions of the flies still further lessened the attractiveness of the 
food so exhibited. This custom prevailed for many years. By and 
by "rattlers" or wagons came into general use, and the commodities 
brought to market were in much better condition, although the 
shutter arrangement still continued. The evil most complained of 
was the want of regularity in the supply; one week there would be a 
large surplus of meats and perhaps for the following two or three 
weeks, and sometimes even longer, nothing of this kind could be 
found. Only in cool weather was fresh pork to be obtained, and 
we are told that it was neither expected nor desired. We must 
except, however, small pigs of from four to six weeks old; these 
were frequently offered in the spring, and the price demanded was 
seventy-five cents or one dollar, according to size! A housekeeper, 
rich or poor, was rarely found who did not fatten one or more swine 
to be killed about Christmas. It may be well to say, while on this 
subject, that there were seven or eight of the residents on "Zion's 
Hill," or in close proximity thereto — 18 18-1830 — each of whom 
usually slaughtered two hogs annually, varying in weight from four 
hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds each. The first named 
was considered "light"; when it exceeded the last named, "a little 
extra." 

Poultry, in the days of which we are speaking, was more abun- 
dant and in greater variety and less in price than at present. Pigeons 
were very plentiful, say from July to September inclusive. Our 
Plains district, then as now, was famous for the production of huckle- 
berries, and cereals were cultivated to a greater extent than in later 
years, affording a considerable acreage of stubble. The pigeons did 
not overlook this liberal provision of palatable food; hereabout was 
one of their favorite resorts, and very many were killed each season, 



428 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

but without causing any apparent diminution of tlieir numbers. 
They have now almost entirely deserted us; poles, booths, flitterers 
or stool pigeons and nets are no longer, in this section, requisites 
for gunning parties. Probably the increase of population, bringing 
2, pro rata increase of sportsmen, the cutting off of the growth and 
the noises occasioned by machinery have led them to seek quarters 
more congenial to their habits and less frequented by seekers after 
game. Wild geese and wild ducks, formerly often found on the 
tables of our citizens, are becoming rare; these birds have also 
found other feeding grounds. The pretty and agile little sand birds, 
which in olden time abounded on our beaches, and which by some 
persons are much esteemed for cooking in the form of " pot-pies," 
visit us now in smaller groups and appear to be more sensitive to 
sights and sounds. 



If legend can be relied upon, the banks of the Mousam River 
were once visited by a personage whose fame has been known in all 
ages of man's existence and through all inhabited lands. There was 
a large boulder a few rods below the village saw-mill which bore a 
mysterious imprint, said to be the impress of the cloven foot of his 
Satanic majesty. He must have bounded upon it with a heavy 
tread or placed the limb there while the once molten rock was yet 
soft and pliable. What troops of boys and girls have visited this 
rock, some incredulous, with merry jest, others hardly daring to 
disbelieve, timidly and with awestruck mien. The rock has been 
split up and utilized, and the sturdy oak, with its broad branches 
and lobate leaves, that stood near by, offering its refreshing shade 
to young and old who during the long summer days were attracted 
thither by curiosity or were on their way to the fishing boats or to 
labor in the fields, is of the past, a thing for memory to dwell upon. 
Whence this legend is not known, nor is it easy to imagine what 
could have induced the old fellow to visit this locality in person. 
He was not interviewed. 



At the second session of the Legislature of Maine, January, 
182 1, an act was passed "authorizing the towns of Kennebunk and 
Arundel to maintain a free bridge over Kennebunk River"; also an 
act to "cede to the United States of America the jurisdiction of a 
part of the beach at the mouth of Kennebunk River." 



HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 429 

The building occupied by William Hackett as a dry goods and 
grocery store, and by James K. Remich as a printing office, took 
fire about noon the twenty-fifth of January, 182 1, in consequence of 
a defect in a chimney which stood on the attic floor and was built 
for the purpose of receiving the funnel from the printing-office stove. 
The attic floor and roof were considerably damaged ; the printing 
apparatus was seriously injured by its removal and Mr. Hackett's 
goods were somewhat damaged from the same cause. 



George B. Emerson, second son of Dr. Samuel Emerson, was 
appointed principal master of the English Classical School in Bos- 
ton in February, 182 1. 

Aaron Green taught private school in the village several terms 
in 182 1 and 1822, most of the time in the Frost store, one or two 
terms in Washington Hall. He afterward took charge of " Goff's 
Mill Tannery," and later still resided at Cape Porpoise as inspector 
of the customs for that port. 



It is said that the following is a true copy of a sign attached to 
a log cabin in Biddeford woods early in the century: 

"Iniens 
Taters 
Lasses 

Pickled Fish and 
New laid Eggs by 

Hannah Hammond.' 



The publication of the " Religious Magazine," by John Buzzell, 
of Parsonsfield, was commenced in January, 1822, and was issued 
from the Kenfielmnk Gazette office. It was the organ of the Freewill 
Baptists and the first publication of the kind issued under the 
auspices of that then recently formed denomination. Eight num- 
bers, duodecimo size, issued quarterly, constituted a volume of two 
hundred and eighty-eight pages, price one dollar per volume. Two 
volumes were published, when the Morning Star, printed weekly at 
Limerick, took its place; Elders Buzzell and Libby, proprietors 
and editors. Mr. Remich sold to the new establishment a printing 



430 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

press, a few fonts of type and some office furniture, to which were 
added new materials, purchased in Boston, sufficient for the then 
present needs of its business. This movement was a success from 
the start. The paper increased rapidly in circulation and popularity, 
until it was found expedient to remove the establishment to Dover, 
N. H. Here, under the management of a stock company, its growth 
was wonderful; the humble Ramage press was cast aside and power 
presses employed, denominational books were published, the paper 
enlarged, and it became one of the largest and most prosperous 
publishing houses in New England, while the Star, always ably con- 
ducted, gained a position among the foremost of the religious peri 
odical publications of the day. The establishment was removed 
from Dover to Boston in 1884, where the paper maintains the high 
character it had attained for ability and usefulness; the business 
operations of this concern have been largely increased. 



Charles Stevens, of Kittery, was arraigned at the bar of the 
Supreme Judicial Court, sitting at Alfred, the twenty-ninth of August, 
1822, on an indictment for the murder of his son, Charles H. C. 
Stevens. The prisoner pleaded not guilty. As he was not ready 
for trial, the case was continued to the next term at York, to be held 
in April, 1823, during which term he was tried and acquitted by the 
jury. The trial was reported by William B. Sewall, of Kennebunk, 
and published by James K. Remich at the Gazette office. 



Rev. Moses Sweat died in Sanford August 31, 1822, aged sixty- 
eight years. He was ordained as pastor of the Congregational 
Society in that town in July, 1786. "His early advantages were 
few; neither a collegiate nor an academic education fell to his lot, 
but with persevering industry he applied his mind to the study of 
the learned languages, and such was his proficiency that for more 
than twenty of the last years of his life he was able to read the 
Greek and Roman classics with no ordinary degree of fluency, and 
could also read the Holy Scriptures with understanding in the 
Hebrew, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic and Persian tongues." 



On the sixth of September, 1823, the dwelling-house of Stephen 
Webber, at Kennebunk Landing, was destroyed by fire, together 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 431 

with all the furniture, clothing, etc., leaving the family entirely des- 
titute of all the necessaries of life. 



The Legislature of Maine, during the session of 1823, passed 
an act to authorize the town of Kennebunk to maintain a bridge 
over the Mousam River on the lower road from Wells to the lower 
village in Kennebunk (School District No. i). 



Twenty-four kegs of gunpowder, each containing twenty-five 
pounds, exploded in one of the principal streets of Dover, N. H., on 
the twentieth day of June, 1823. The kegs were packed in straw 
in a wagon which was drawn by two horses. A small quantity of 
the powder, say two ounces in all, had escaped from the kegs, 
which, being observed by the owner, was carefully swept from the 
floor of the wagon on to the ground. A boy, noticing this, conceived 
the idea of "having some fun" by igniting the waste powder, and 
procuring a coal of fire applied it to the powder, the blaze of which 
reached the straw in the wagon, which was at once in flames, when 
the horses took fright and ran down the street. Two men at work 
in a hatter's shop, seeing the runaway horses and blazing wagon, 
rushed into the street with the intention of stopping and unharness- 
ing the horses; they were warned of their danger, but probably did 
not distinctly understand what was said to them, and before their 
generous purpose was half completed a fearful explosion took place. 
The men lived several hours, suffering beyond description. One of 
them was Abbot L. Kelley, of Waterborough, an excellent young 
man. He served his apprenticeship with Kelley & Warren, of this 
town. He was engaged to the daughter of the senior member of 
the firm, by whom his memory was always faithfully cherished. She 
subsequently declined several offers of marriage by persons in good 
standing. She died a few years ago at an age exceeding eighty years. 



Mr. Remich printed for John Buzzell and Elias Libby, at the 
Gazette o'i^Q.&, in 1823, " Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, selected 
for the use of the united churches of Christ commonly called Free 
Will Baptist, and for saints of all denominations, by John Buzzell, 
minister of the gospel," three hundred and forty-eight pages, duo- 



432 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

decimo size. It was very neatly printed for the time. We think the 
edition was about five thousand copies. It was the first bound vol- 
ume of hymns, prepared expressly for this purpose, that was used 
by the denomination. Elder Benjamin Randall, of New Durham, 
N. H., the originator of the sect, prepared and published an eighteen 
mo. pamphlet, containing about fifty hymns, about 1800. Only a 
small edition was printed. Samuel Bragg, Jr., at the Dover Sun 
ofiice, was the printer. James K. Remich, then an apprentice in 
this office, was the compositor by whom the manuscript of this vol- 
ume was put in type. 



Mr. Jotham Young, while engaged in firing a salute with a 
small cannon, or "swivel," on Monday morning, fifth of July, 1824, 
was suddenly deprived of life. "At the seventh discharge the gun 
burst and one of the pieces struck him on the head, laying it open 
to the brain; he instantly fell, insensible, breathed a few moments 
and then expired." This accident happened near the blacksmith's 
shop at the easterly corner of the cemetery. Young was in the 
twenty-ninth year of his age. He was the son of Joseph Young, 
who married Martha, daughter of Reuben Hatch, in 1786; he died 
in 1809; his widow survived him many years. Jotham married 
Hannah Sherman ; he left two sons, both of whom died prior to 1840. 



A destructive fire occurred in the heart of the village, between 
the hours of two and three, on Tuesday morning, August 3, 1824. 
It originated in the barn of John H. Bartlett, which was soon burned 
to the ground, as were the dwelling-house and some outbuildings in 
close proximity thereto. The dwelling-house or Palmer Walker, on 
the west, and a three-story cabinet-maker's shop and furniture 
warehouse, improved by Daniel Hodsdon, on the east side of these 
buildings, were soon destroyed, as well as the interior of the brick 
store erected by Waterston & Pray in 1809, afterward sold to John 
U. Parsons, and at the time occupied by Greenough, Bodwell & Co. 



The Congregational meeting-house in Kennebunkport Village 
was dedicated the fifth of October, 1S24. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 433 

The dwelling-house of David Thompson, Jr., was destroyed by 
fire, together with most of his furniture, and all of his corn, potatoes, 
etc., on the twelfth of November, 1825. It caught on the roof by a 
spark from the chimney. The males belonging to the family being 
away from home, assistance could not be obtained in season to save 
the house or any considerable part of its contents. 



The York County members of the Medical Society of Maine 
met at Towle's Inn, March 2, 1S26. Dr. Burleigh Smart, secretary. 
Oration at the meeting-house by Samuel Emerson, M. D. 



May 17, 1826, at about half- past three in the afternoon, Kenne- 
bunk was visited by a tornado unparalleled in this locality for its 
severity and destructiveness. The day had been very warm, the 
thermometer ranging between ninety and one hundred, when a few 
clouds appeared in the west, which accumulated rapidly and soon 
sent forth a blast of wind that for a few moments was really terrific, 
"filling the air with clouds of dust, gravel stones, limbs of trees, 
boards, etc. ; tearing up by the roots or breaking off large trees ; 
blowing down or unroofing barns and sheds and prostrating fences. 
Persons who were at work in their fields were compelled to lie down 
upon the ground or to hold on to stumps to save themselves from 
being driven before it." A fine growth of pine, maple and oak tim- 
ber (then known as Remich's and Storer's Woods), near the village, 
experienced its most destructive current ; here about six hundred 
trees, measuring from two and a half to three feet in diameter six 
or eight feet from the butt, were torn up by the roots and piled one 
upon another in sad confusion. The gale continued its destructive 
course, in an easterly direction, across the river to Kennebunkport, 
where a saw-mill on the east side of Kennebunk River was blown 
down and part of the roof was torn from the Congregational meet- 
ing-house, near Robert Towne's; much valuable growth and nearly 
all the fences in its path were laid low. A Mr. Adams, who was 
riding on horseback, was blown, together with his saddle, from the 
horse; Mr. Adams was somewhat, but not seriously, bruised. In 
Berwick and the western part of Wells considerable damage was 
done to buildings, growth and fences. The width of the gale was 
about four miles, but its most violent and destructive current was 



434 HISTORY OF KKNNEBUNK. 

confined to a width of about one-eighth of a mile. It left the land 
in the vicinity of Cape Porpoise and exhausted its force on the 
ocean. Where it commenced is not known. 

In Wells the "Great Elm," situated about one and a half miles 
from the ocean, was blown down. This calamity was much mourned. 
The giant tree had been, for many years, a highly prized landmark 
for navigators of vessels entering Wells Harbor. It measured 
twentj'-seven and a half feet in circumference ; it was forty feet from 
its foot to a crotch and from thence twenty feet to the first limb ; 
above this, limbs were plentiful, and many of them of great length 
and thickness. The top of the tree was much broken by its fall, so 
that its great height could not be ascertained; it, however, loomed 
considerably more than one hundred feet into the air. 



On Monday, April 23, 1827, a moderate rain storm commenced, 
which continued until Tuesday forenoon, from which time until 
about three o'clock Wednesday morning the rain descended in tor- 
rents. This unusual rainfall caused the rivers and small streams in 
Kennebunk to overflow their banks; the waters of the Mousam and 
Kennebunk Rivers were higher than they had been for many years 
before. On the Mousam a part of the dam, with the bulkhead, at 
Mitchell's Mill was swept away, the water rushing through the mill 
with great violence. In the village the utmost exertions of the citi- 
zens were found necessary to preserve the mills, dam and bridge 
from destruction. Most of the bridges on the stream were more or 
less injured, but none were rendered unsafe and all were promptly 
repaired. 

On Kennebunk River the carding mill of Moses Nason was 
entirely swept away, and a grist-mill near by, in which another card- 
ing machine was operated, was much injured ; the water made a 
complete passage around the mill and dam. Mr. Nason's loss was 
estimated at one thousand dollars. At the Landing, on the same 
river, many piles of boards, containing from ten to twenty-five thou- 
sand each, were swept from the wharves and floated down stream 
until arrested in their progress, and with the aid of manual labor, 
oxen and ropes were dragged to the shore and landed on the flats 
and mowing fields. Durrell's Bridge, for the safety of which great 
fears were entertained, withstood the onset of the mad torrent, 
together with the vast quantity of lumber, ship timber and logs that 
was hurled against it with terrific force by the rushing water. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 435 

The dam at Goff's Mill Tannery, in Kennebunkport, was 
destroyed and the old grist-mill swept away. 

On Cape Neddock River the clothing mill of Mr. Cotton Chase, 
at the outlet of Chase's Pond and about five miles above the harbor, 
was carried away, sweeping before it four bridges which crossed 
the river at different places. 

The Saco River rose to an uncommon height: the cellars under 
several buildings situated on its banks, in Saco and Biddeford, were 
completely filled and several families on "Poor Island" abandoned 
their houses; part of Smith's Bridge, in Saco, was destroyed. In 
Buxton, part of Smith's Bridge, part of Bar Mills Bridge, a double 
saw-mill at Moderation Falls, a single saw-mill at Bar Mills and a 
double saw-mill at Salmon Falls were destroyed. The loss of man- 
factured lumber and logs on the river and its tributaries was quite 
large. 

In Eliot a milldam was swept away, as were several bridges on 
the road from Kittery to South Berwick. 

Great damage was reported in the adjoining counties and in 
the eastern part of the State. In New Hampshire much damage 
was sustained on the large rivers and their tributaries. 



Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf, of Wells, was advised by a council 
of ministers and delegates convened to take the subject into consid- 
eration, September 2, 1828, to dissolve his connection with the First 
Parish in Wells, unless the parish complied with certain conditions 
stated in their report. These conditions were not complied with 
and the connection was dissolved. Mr. Greenleaf had been invited 
to become the agent of the Seamen's Friend Society and preacher 
to the seamen in Boston, and decided to accept the proffered situa- 
tion. "A Parishioner" in the Gazette severely criticised the action 
of Mr. Greenleaf and of the council. 



Jonas Clark, judge of probate, resigned his office, on account 
of ill health, in September, 1828, and William A. Hayes, of South 
Berwick, was appointed by Governor Lincoln to fill the vacancy 
thus occasioned. 



436 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

There were thirty-three papers published in this State in 1828 ; 
twenty-five of them were political, of which eighteen supported the 
national administration and seven opposed it ; six religious papers, 
of which two advocated the doctrinal views held by the Calvinist 
Baptists, one Orthodox Congregationalist, one Universalist, one 
Free Will Baptist, and one was devoted to the suppression of intem- 
perance ; there were two literary journals, the Argus and the 
Advertiser (Portland), which published semi-weekly editions. Nine- 
teen years before (1809), when Mr. Remich established his paper 
here, there were only six papers published in the State ; two at 
Portland, two at Hallowell, one at Augusta and one at Castine. 
The two last named were discontinued within the year 1809. 



James Osborn, Jr., was appointed postmaster of Kennebunk in 
place of Barnabas Palmer, resigned. May, 1829. 



The cultivation of hemp was a subject of inquiry and discussion 
among our practical and amateur farmers in 1828, '29 and '30, and 
quite a number of them, by way of experiment, appropriated a small 
piece of ground to its production. These efforts did not result in 
an entire failure, nor were they sufficiently successful to warrant the 
expectation that it could be made a profitable crop. Many fine 
samples of the product of this plant, in different parts of the town, 
were exhibited. Among these was a stalk measuring eleven inches, 
selected from a small but excellent crop grown in the village. On 
Paul Shackford's farm, adjoining Alewive Pond, a good degree of 
success attended its cultivation. This farm of about eighty acres, 
with a small house and barn thereon, was sold by the heirs in 1829. 
The Paul Shackford above named was, we presume, the son of the 
Paul Shackford who built the first house in the village of Kenne- 
bunkport in 1740. Bradbury says: "He was a ship carpenter and 
removed to the plains [on the east side of the Mousam, near 
George Thompson's] before 1755, where he built quite a large ves- 
sel and hauled her to the sea." 



February 26, 1830, Mr. Joshua Thompson, of this town, was 
killed at Bramhall's Hill, near Portland. When descending the hill 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 437 

he was thrown down, while attempting to lessen the speed of his 
oxen, and one of the wheels of his loaded ox cart passed directly 
over his breast; he died after lingering five hours. 



Eliphalet Perkins and one hundred and twenty-five others peti- 
tion the Maine Legislature of 1830^ representing "that the road 
leading from the interior of the county, through the towns of Ken- 
nebunk and Kennebunkport, to the harbor of Kennebunk may be 
considerably shortened and materially improved by a new road so 
as to pass with a bridge, which may be built, with the authority of 
the Legislature, across the Kennebunk River at a place called the 
Narrows, about a quarter of a mile above the principal wharves on 
said river ; and that a bridge at said place would not obstruct the 
navigation in any considerable degree, but that a free bridge thus 
located would very much promote the convenience and the benefit 
of the public." 

A committee to lay out the road, as described in this petition, 
was appointed by the Court of Sessions for York County, which 
duty was duly performed. 

The Legislature authorized the county commissioners to lay out 
a public highway over the tide waters of the Kennebunk River, and 
a petition was presented to the county commissioners, at the May 
term of their Court, that they would lay out the proposed road : 
"beginning in the village of Kennebunkport, at or near Benjamin 
F, Mason's, and running to the lower narrows on the Kennebunk 
River, and thence, after passing said river in Kennebunk, to or 
near Towne's Bridge, so-called," and also that they "lay out a public 
highway over the narrows aforesaid, and require the towns of Ken- 
nebunk and Kennebunkport to build and maintain a free bridge 
over said narrows." The petitioners say that "the great importance 
of a bridge in this place is in the improvements that can thereby be 
made in opening a shorter, easier and more convenient road than 
can be located in any other place, with the view of facilitating the 
intercourse between Kennebunk and the country." The commis- 
sioners appointed the second day of August ensuing for viewing the 
route and hearing the parties interested in the matter. The propri- 
etors of the toll bridge, on or before the last-named day, consented 
to dispose of the property on terms satisfactory to the citizens of 
Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, and, consequently, no farther 



438 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

action was required on the part of the commissioners. The Gazette 
of the thirteenth of August, 1831, announces that "the bridge known 
as the 'toll bridge,' which connects the two towns, is now and will 
continue to be a free bridged A county road was located over it a 
short time afterward. 



The village bridge over the Mousam was rebuilt in the autumn 
of 1830, under the superintendence of Capt. Ralph Curtis. It was 
regarded as a very excellent structure. It cost nearly twenty-two 
hundred dollars, which was about four hundred dollars less than it 
was generally supposed would be required for its erection. The 
town borrowed the money to defray the bills at four per cent, per 
annum. 



On November 20, 1830, Mr. John C. Hatch and Mr. Tristram 
Littlefield, both of this town, while attempting to cross the river, near 
Cat Mousam Mills, in an unsafe punt, were overset and drowned. 



By the census of this town in 1830 the whole number of inhab- 
itants was two thousand two hundred and thirty-six, showing an 
increase of population in ten years of only ninety-one (population in 
1820, two thousand one hundred and forty-five). Number of males, 
one thousand and forty-five; of females, one thousand one hundred 
and ninety-one; aliens, six; blind, two; colored, three. 

By the census of Kennebunkport for 1830 the whole number of 
inhabitants was two thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven (increase 
over that of 1820, two hundred and seventy-nine). Number of males, 
one thousand three hundred and forty-one; of females, one thousand 
four hundred and sixteen; deaf and dumb, two; blind, four; aliens, 
four; colored, nine. 

The census of York County in 1830 showed the population to 
be fifty-one thousand seven hundred and ten; deaf mutes, thirty- 
three; blind, thirty-six; aliens, twenty-five; colored, seventy-eight 
(decrease of colored population since 1820, twenty-four; aliens 
increased, two. The total increase throughout the county in ten 
years was five thousand four hundred and twenty-seven). Taxable 
polls, eight thousand five hundred and twenty-nine ; valuation, three 
million seven hundred and thirty-one thousand, six hundred and 
fifty-nine dollars. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 439 

The population of the State in 1830 was three hundred and 
ninety-nine thousand, three hundred and eight3'-three, showing an 
increase since 1820 of one hundred and one thousand and forty- 
eight and an aggregate gain of thirty-three and one-half per cent. 
Number of incorporated towns, two hundred and twenty-nine ; plan- 
tations and unorganized territories, one hundred and forty-six. 



James Osborn, Jr., and twenty-nine others petition the county 
commissioners to straighten the road leading from James Titcomb's 
(now George Dresser's) to the lower village in Kennebunk, or a new 
one laid out. May, 1831. Hearing assigned for August second. 
The commissioners laid out the road commencing near and west of 
the Titcomb place and running to William Mitchell's (now Rev. W. 
H. Mitchell's). This not only shortened the distance, but has proved 
to be an advantageous movement. 



A bear was killed near Cape Porpoise Village in November, 
1831. 



The Gazette of November 27, 183 1, contains a long communi- 
cation from Mr. William M. Bryant, describing his method of 
instruction as teacher of the public school in the village, the work 
performed by teacher and pupils, the success that had attended his 
efforts, and pointing out the advantages that would result from the 
general adoption of his system. The article was timely and sensible, 
and might profitably be read, at this day, by teachers and parents. 
Mr. Bryant was a very successful instructor in this town for several 
years. 

An act revoking the charter of Kennebunk Bank was passed by 
the Legislature of Maine during the session of 183 1. The capital 
stock of this institution had been reduced from one hundred thou- 
sand dollars to fifty thousand in May of the previous year. Twenty-five 
thousand dollars of the capital stock were paid to the stockholders 
April first, 1831. It was unfortunate in its business transactions, 
and the stockholders considered it advisable, in view of its condi- 
tion, to wind up its affairs. The bank building was sold at auction 



440 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the twenty-seventh of February, 1832, and its concerns finally closed 
up the seventeenth of the following month. The building was pur- 
chased by Capt. Eliphalet Perkins, by whom it was sold to the 
United States for a custom house. 



A powerful rain storm visited New England April 8, 1833. In 
this town it caused the river to rise to an unusual height. Several 
mills were damaged and a number of small bridges were carried away. 



Hon. Daniel Goodenow, of Alfred, delivered an address on 
"Temperance,'" in Rev. Mr. Wells's meeting-house, on the afternoon 
of the Fourth of July, 1S33. It was a dispassionate and candid 
consideration of the subject, and was listened to with close attention 
and evidently with much gratification by a large assemblage of our 
citizens. 



A sturgeon, six and one-half feet in length, was taken from 
Kennebunk River, at the Landing, in July, 1833. It had been many 
years since a fish of this species had been seen in that stream. 



A meteoric phenomenon was observed by early risers on the 
morning of November 13, 1833, which was singularly beautiful, — a 
grand display of the wonderful in nature. One of our citizens (Capt. 
James Hubbard), having occasion to be abroad at an early hour, 
noticed this remarkable appearance about an hour and a half before 
daylight, and at once proceeded to the houses of several of his 
friends and aroused them from their slumbers, in order that they 
might witness the unequaled exhibition. The author was one of 
those thus favored. When first seen, numberless meteors were 
careening through the air in all directions; their appearance was not 
dissimilar to that of common "shooting stars," although one would 
occasionally burst like a rocket, emitting a bright light and with a 
flash resembling lightning. They gradually increased in number, 
falling from the zenith to the horizon, until the air appeared to be 
completely filled with them. This unsurpassed exhibition continued 
until the morning twilight lessened their brilliancy and to the eye of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 441 

the beholder diminished their number, and gradually fading, until 
the appearance of the sun above the horizon rendered them no 
longer visible. The "meteoric shower" has been observed in clear 
weather, with more or less distinctness, from that time to the pres- 
ent, in the same month and generally on the same day of the month, 
but all of them have fallen far short, in magnitude or splendor, of 
the marvelous display first noticed, which elicited much comment 
by scientific men throughout the country. The weather the preced- 
ing day had been variable, but was, on the morning of the thirteenth, 
clear and cold. The next day, in this vicinity, there was a heavy 
rain storm, accompanied with vivid lightning and hail, and on the 
day following there was a severe thunder shower. Rev. Mr. Tracy, 
of Saco, having been called up to witness the phenomenon, rang 
the church bell, so that the alarm might call the people from their 
beds and enable them to witness the extraordinary spectacle. 



A curious migration took place at the Landing during the night 
of June II, 1834. About one-fourth of an acre of land, on the east- 
ern bank of Kennebunk River, opposite the dwelling-house of the 
late Mr. Benjamin Durrell, the site of which is now vacant, in Ken- 
nebunkport, slid into the river, carrying away nearly one-half of 
Durrell's (draw) Bridge, and nearly filling up the channel for a rod 
or more. Where, on Wednesday, a ship of the largest size then 
built on the river might have laid afloat, on Thursday morning the 
river could be forded without difificulty. The land moved in a solid 
mass, and the apple trees upon it stood as firmly and as erect, and 
looked as flourishing, in their new situation as they did the previous 
day on the location where they were reared. The slide was accom- 
panied by a noise resembling an earthquake, which cannot be con- 
sidered as at all remarkable. 

This slide occurred in the immediate vicinity of that which was 
regarded with so much wonder by learned and distinguished men 
about 1670, and concerning which such exaggerated accounts were 
written. Hubbard, in his History, says: "This accident fell out 
in the year 1670." It was probably very similar to that above men- 
tioned ; in extent not much, if any, greater, and we have no reason 
to suspect that it was in any respect more wonderful, but it occurred 
in a superstitious age. 



44*2 HISTORY OF KENNEBUXK. 

The York County Temperance Society held a meeting in the 
Unitarian Church December 17, 1834. It was largely attended. 



The building owned by Daniel Wise and for a time occupied 
by him as a store was purchased in 1835 t>y Jonathan Stone, of 
Kennebunkport, by whom it was fitted up for a hotel, which was in 
successful operation in the autumn of 1836. It was called the 
"Mousam House." The orthography of the word Mousam had not 
then been settled. It was spelled by different persons Mousci:m, 
Mousi^m and Mouswm, most frequently in the manner last named. 
Mr. Stone proposed to paint the name of his house, in large letters, 
across the front of the building. The painter had drawn out the 
letters Mojis, when he turned toward Mr. Stone and inquired, "What 
is the next letter?" Mr. Stone did not know. Several of the old 
citizens were standing near and an appeal was made to them ; they 
differed as to the most correct method. Mr. Dane, Sr., was one of 
the bystanders, and he remarked that it was high time that the 
orthography of this word was established and added: "I propose, 
gentlemen, that one of our number wait upon Daniel Remich, sub- 
mit the question to him, and his decision evermore be considered as 
a finality." The proposition was warmly seconded by Mr. Stone 
and the other gentlemen present. Mr. Remich, in answer to the 
committee, said that he had frequent occasion to write the word and 
had invariably spelled it Mousam, not because he had any authority 
founded on a knowledge of the Indian dialect, but because he re- 
garded it as a smoother word when pronounced and more agreeable 
to the eye when written. He would recommend that am should be 
the established orthography of the terminal syllable. The report of 
the committee was well received; the "next letter" was a. The 
people of Sanford, Alfred and others interested in the subject heart- 
ily seconded the recommendation. From that day to the present 
Mousam has, we believe, been accepted and adopted as the proper 
method of spelling the word. 



The dwelling-house on Dane Street owned for some years by 
Mrs. Mehitabel Nason, and at the time owned by Edward Gould and 
occupied by him and Daniel Nason, Jr., took fire during the night of 
January 16, 1837, but by the prompt and well-directed exertions of the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 443 

inhabitants of the village was saved from destruction ; two rooms 
and an entry-way were seriously damaged and a considerable part 
of the furniture more or less injured. 



The heavens presented a singular but beautiful appearance on 
the evening of January 24, 1837, from six to eleven o'clock. In the 
early part of the evening a broad arch, of elegant crimson color, 
extended from the northwestern to the eastern horizon, and subse- 
quently spread in almost every direction, lighting up the heavens 
with great brilliancy. It excited the interest as well as the admira- 
tion of our citizens, and was regarded here, as well as in other 
places where seen, as the most grand and beautiful exhibition of 
this inexplicable aerial phenomenon (the Northern Lights) ever wit- 
nessed in this latitude. 



Notice was given by the State Treasurer, April, 1837, that the 
first and second installments of the surplus revenue were ready to 
be paid to authorized agents of the cities and towns therein. The 
inhabitants of Kennebunk voted, May first, "that the portion allotted 
to this town be loaned by the Town Treasurer to individuals and 
heads of families, citizens of the town, each [men, women and chil- 
dren] being entitled to an equal portion of the whole sum received, 
and to make an entry thereof on his books, to the end that the same 
may be collected when called for by the State, and the receipt of 
each individual on said books for the sum loaned shall be taken as 
ample security to the town and be deemed a full and sufficient 
voucher to the Treasurer." 



Fire was discovered in a large barn belonging to Mr. William 
Lord and connected by a shed with his dwelling-house, September 
21, 1837. The alarm was given about sunset. The barn, shed and 
other outbuildings, together with a valuable patent hay press, a 
horse, cow, a few tons of hay, chaise, wagon, sleighs and many other 
articles fell a prey to the devouring element in a very short space of 
time. The L part of the house was severely damaged, but it was 
saved from entire destruction, although a portion of the roof and of 
the woodwork in the chambers was completely charred. 



444 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

The "History of Kennebunkport from its first discover}', 1602, 
to 1837, by Charles Bradbury," was published early in the autumn 
of 1837, a duodecimo volume of three hundred and one pages. 
This is an exceedingly interesting and valuable work, now nearly 
out of print; copies of it have recently been sold at very high prices. 
It was prepared with great care by Captain Bradbury, who was 
unwearied in his efforts to render it authentic and exhaustive. Mr. 
Williamson, author of the " History of Maine," commended it very 
highly. 

Accompanying the report of the Secretary of War to the Presi- 
dent, in December, 1837, was a "statement showing the prominent 
points along the sea frontier which will require attention, and for 
which no plans or projects have yet been made by the Board of 
Engineers." Among the prominent points named are the mouth of 
Saco River, of the Kennebunk River and at York, where works 
should be erected with thirty guns (ten each, we presume) ; garrison 
in peace, twenty-five ; in war, one hundred. 



Sherburne's meeting-house, situated in the upper part of Ken- 
nebunkport, was sold at auction May 5, 1838. One of the condi- 
tions of sale was that it should be taken down and the materials 
removed within sixty days from date of sale. This meeting-house 
was built about 1800. Elder Sherburne was the first and we think 
the only settled minister over this society. He commenced his 
ministerial labors in January, 1803, "a Baptist church was consti- 
tuted with thirteen members in June," and he was ordained in Sep- 
tember of that year. The society was incorporated by the Massa- 
chusetts Legislature in 1806. "It was not a territorial parish, but 
the members of it belonged in all parts of the town." Elder Sher- 
burne left the society in 1817 and in 1818 removed to Ohio. He 
did not succeed well there, "but became poor and almost destitute. 
In 1827 he wrote his memoirs and the next year visited Kennebunk- 
port and the neighboring towns to make sale of his work and realized 
a handsome sum." He died in Ohio about 1829. 



Adoniram Hardison, aged forty-five years, was drowned, while 
fishing, a few miles from the mouth of Mousam River. He fell over- 
board from a small boat; his companion was unable to rescue him. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 445 

The population of Kennebunk in 1840 was two thousand three 
hundred and seventy-three, again showing an increase in ten years 
of only ninety-one. 



Daniel Remich was appointed collector of the customs for the 
Port and District of Kennebunk, in place of Barnabas Palmer, 
whose commission had expired, March, 1841. 



Samuel Mendum was appointed postmaster of Kennebunk, in 
place of James Osborn, removed, June, 1841, and entered upon the 
duties of the office the first day of July. 



The valuation of Kennebunk in 1841 was four hundred and 
forty-two thousand nine hundred and one dollars, an increase in ten 
years of two hundred and eighteen thousand eight hundred and 
four dollars. 



The old State Militia system was abolished in 1843. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SOCIAL LIBRARY LITERARY SOCIETY LYCEUMS TEMPERANCE. 

Under an act of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, entitled 
"An Act to enable the proprietors of Social Libraries to manage the 
same," and on the petition of George W. Wallingford, John U. Par- 
sons, Timothy Frost, Benjamin Smith, Joseph Storer and Samuel 
Emerson, a warrant was issued December 12, 1801, by Joseph 
Thomas, justice of the peace, to George W. Wallingford, requiring 
him to call a meeting of said proprietors, to be held at Barnard's 
Tavern on the twenty-second of said month; at said time and place 
the proprietors met and organized by the choice of Rev. N. H, 
Fletcher, moderator, and G. W. Wallingford, clerk; a librarian, col- 
lector and treasurer were also chosen. The proprietary was divided 
into eighty-six shares, at five dollars each, and two cents per week, 
per volume, were to be charged for books taken from the library. 
Committees were chosen to draw up a code of by-laws and to pre- 
sent a list of books. 

Two hundred and twenty-four volumes of valuable books were 
purchased, embracing histories, biographies, travels and a choice 
selection of miscellaneous literature; the standard works were 
chiefly English editions, octavo size, and nicely bound. Probably 
better selections, in each department, could not have been made at 
the time. These volumes were extensively read. Later were 
added " Mavor's Voyages " and " Tours," in twenty-eight volumes, 
abridgments of all the important voyages and tours that had been 
made from the earliest period up to near the close of the seventeenth 
century. We think it safe to say that these volumes were read by the 
greater part of the boys, as well as by a goodly number of the girls, 
in the village between the ages of twelve and seventeen. They were 
sought for with as much avidity, and read with as much interest, as 
are the dime novels and other light literature at the present day, 
and with how much greater benefit. The one imparted knowledge 
of the utmost value, aided in giving solidity to the character, and 
furnished essential material for the building up of a respectable and 
useful manhood or womanhood; the other is enervating the minds 

446 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK.. 



44: 



of its readers, instilling notions that may lead to degeneracy or 
crime, and unfitting them for the perusal of books of genuine worth. 
Nor were adults the only readers of the larger volumes; it was not 
unusual to see minors, of both sexes, interested readers of American 
history and biography, as well as of Hume, Gibbon, Barthelemy's 
Travels of Anacharsis the Younger, Shakespeare, — indeed, few or 
none of the volumes on the library shelves were passed by, either 
by adult or minor, as dry and uninteresting. These are facts that 
may be profitably pondered to-day. 

Nearly forty volumes of the then recent publications in the sev- 
eral departments of literature above named were added to the library 
in 1838, for the purchase of which an assessment was laid on the 
proprietors. Time wore on. The books in the library had been 
generally read. Light literature had become easily accessible; it 
was fascinating, did not require sober thought or more than a modi- 
cum of culture to read it fluently, and it grew popular. Valuable 
books were published in this country at low prices, and many began 
to form home libraries. The old library was therefore neglected. 
It was not practicable to increase it by the addition of sound and 
safe works. Books were taken out and not returned, requests for 
privileges forbidden by the by-laws were frequent, and under the 
circumstances the stockholders deemed it advisable to sell the 
books, library case, etc., at auction. In accordance with a vote of 
the stockholders, it was so disposed of on the evening of December 
1, 1853. Thus a time-honored institution of Kennebunk disap- 
peared. For more than half a century it had been a quiet but 
efficient worker of good,— how great or widely spread that good, no 
estimate can be formed. 

Literary Society. 

A society with the title of "The Literary and Moral Society of 
Kennebunk" was formed in April, i8i8, by gentlemen residing in 
the village. It consisted of about twenty-five members. Meetings 
were held fortnightly, at which subjects of a literary, moral and 
religious character were discussed. An oration and a poem, by 
members, were to be delivered annually and the exercises were to 
be public; the leading periodical publications of that day were 
taken for the use of its members. 

The first anniversary of the society was celebrated on the even- 
ing of the twenty-eighth of April, 18 ig. The members, each of 
whom wore an appropriate badge, marched in procession to the 



448 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUNK. 

meeting-house, Avhere an oration was delivered by Israel W. Bourne 
and a poem by William S. Emerson, Miss Eliza M. Moody (after- 
ward Mrs. William T. Vaughan, of Portland,) presided at the organ, 
which was accompanied by "a select choir of female voices only.'' 
After the exercises at the church had been concluded, the members 
of this society marched to Jefferds's Hotel (then kept by George 
Jefferds), "where they partook of an elegant supper," which was 
succeeded by several excellent toasts. 

The society, in March, 1820, issued proposals for publishing, in 
Kennebunk, a fortnightly literary paper, to be called the " Maine 
Literary Journal," to be printed on first quality paper, on long 
primer type, of the form and fold of the "Philadelphia Post Folio," 
eight pages quarto, at one dollar and fifty cents per annum. A 
sufficient number of subscribers was not obtained to warrant its 
publication, however. 

Its second anniversary was observed on the evening of April 26, 
1820. Oration by John Skeele and poem by Dr. Samuel Emerson. 
Supper at Washington Hall. The society was incorporated by the 
Legislature of Maine at the January session, 182 1. The third anni- 
versary was observed on the sixteenth of April of that year. Oration 
by Edward E. Bourne, poem by John Skeele. At the close of the 
exercises at the church the members, accompanied by the choir (all 
ladies), marched in procession to Jefferds's Hotel, where they par- 
took of an excellent supper. Its fourth anniversary was observed 
on the twentieth of April, 1822. George B. Moody, orator; William 
B. Sewall, poet. The literary exercises were supplemented by a 
supper at Washington Hall. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Judicial Court was one of its invited guests. On its fifth anniver- 
sary, April 28, 1823, Israel W. Bourne was orator and George B. 
Moody, poet. 

These were the last public exercises of this society. Regular 
meetings at its rooms Avere continued for two or three years after- 
ward, but the number of attendants gradually diminished, and it 
was determined by the few remaining members to disband and to 
sell at auction the volumes of magazines belonging to the associa- 
tion. It was not in consequence of any discontent or lack of inter- 
est that this society closed its affairs, but because the larger part of 
the active members had removed from town to other places, to 
engage in business pursuits, and there appeared to be a lack of 
needed material wherewith to supply the vacancies that had been 
created. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 449 



Lyceums. 



Several young men belonging in this village held a meeting on 
the first day of August, 1829, and organized a Debating Club. 
Meetings were held weekly at the ofifice of Increase S. Kimball, Esq., 
in a room which now forms a part of that occupied by the Good 
Templars. Its members were much interested and discussions on 
the several questions brought before them were spirited and gave 
evidence of careful preparation. As their room was quite small, 
the wish was generally expressed that the society would hold its 
meetings in a larger place, in order that spectators might be admitted. 
A proposition by the society was well received that it should relin- 
quish its informal organization, and that a " Lyceum " should be 
formed which would be broader in its character, the lectures 
and discussions before which should be free to all. At a meeting 
held on the evening of December 30, 1829, five gentlemen engaged 
to deliver one lecture each during the winter. 

The first lecture, introductory to the course and explanatory of 
the nature and design of lyceums, was delivered by Rev. George W. 
Wells, at Union Hall, on the evening of January 6, 1830. The sec- 
ond in the course was by Dr. William S. Emerson, on Electricity, 
January thirteenth; the third, January twentieth, by Hugh McCul- 
loch, Jr., on Physical Geography; the fourth, February eighth, by 
Edward E. Bourne, on the Early History of Kennebunk. This lec- 
ture embraced nearly all the facts relating to the early history of 
our town which are given in "The History of Wells and Kenne- 
bunk," published in 1875. The fifth and concluding lecture of this 
course was given February seventeenth, subject Astronomy, by 
Henry A. Jones, who for two or three years was a successful and 
very popular teacher of schools in this village. At the conclusion 
of Mr. Jones's lecture a constitution was reported which was 
adopted. "The association shall be called the 'Kennebunk 
Lyceum,' and its object shall be to promote the diffusion of useful 
knowledge." Any adult could become a member by the annual pay- 
ment of fifty cents and signing the constitution, and minors by the 
payment of twenty-five cents and also signing the constitution, the 
latter not entitled to vote. This constitution was signed by sixty- 
one adults and nine minors. The society was then organized by 
the election of the several officers required by the constitution. 

The first lecture before the Kennebunk Lyceum was delivered 
on the evening of March 3, 1830, by Daniel Remich; subject, " His- 



450 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

tory of the Art of Printing." The second in the course was by Rev. 
Beriah Green, March tenth, on the " Condition of the Indians and 
the relations existing between them and the United States." March 
eighteenth William S. Emerson gave a lecture on "The Anatomy of 
the Human Skeleton." During the remainder of the course, which 
closed June ninth, lectures were delivered by Rev. G. W. Wells, E. 
E. Bourne, Dr. Burleigh Smart, Increase S. Kimball, Hugh McCul- 
loch, Jr., and Rev. Beriah Green. 

One of Mr. Wells's lectures was on " The rearing of silk worms 
and the cultivation of the mulberry." Mr. Wells took much inter- 
est in this subject and endeavored to create a general enthusiasm 
in reference to it among our farmers especially. Several citizens 
planted the mulberry and raised silk worms, but did not meet with 
that degree of success which encouraged them to continue their 
experiments. 

A board of managers was chosen at a business meeting in 
September, 1830, the members of which were re-elected annually, 
excepting in cases where vacancies occurred by the removal of the 
incumbents from town. Joseph Dane, James K. Remich, Edward 
E. Bourne, Rev. George W. Wells, Dr. Burleigh Smart, Rev. Joseph 
Fuller (successor to Rev. Beriah Green), William Lord, Elisha Chad- 
bourne, Adam McCulloch and Levi P. Hillard comprised this board. 
Standing committees were appointed on Chemistry, Agriculture, 
Mechanic Arts and Manufactures, Political Economy, Town Im- 
provements, Education, Lyceums and Domestic Economy. These 
committees reported questions for discussion. 

The meetings of the Lyceum were resumed on the thirtieth of 
September, on which evening a lecture was delivered by Hugh Mc- 
Culloch, Jr. The question, "Ought capital punishment for crime 
to be abolished?" was discussed on the evening of the sixth of 
October, and Messrs. Henry A. Jones, Dr. S. Emerson, E. E. 
Bourne, G. W. Wells, H. McCulloch, Jr., and Daniel Remich par- 
ticipated in the debate. William S. Emerson, who had held the 
cflfices of secretary and treasurer since the organization of the Ly- 
ceum, resigned, in consequence of leaving town, and Daniel Remich 
was elected to fill the vacancy. 

In 1832 a select committee on Pauperism — James K. Remich, 
John Low and Joseph Dane — was appointed, by whom a report was 
made, the discussion of which occupied several evenings and parts 
of evenings, and resulted in bringing the matter before the town 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 451 

and in the abolishing of the old system of "bidding ofif the poor" 
and the adoption of the present method of supporting them. 

Meetings of this association were continued during the fall and 
winter months of each succeeding year until 1838, when they were 
relinquished from the same causes that led to the dissolution of the 
Literary and Moral Society. For ten years this Lyceum was a very 
flourishing and useful institution. It was sustained almost entirely 
by home talent, and it may be truthfully said that the lectures and 
discussions before it were, as a whole, exceedingly creditable to the 
participants and to the town. Rev. Mr. Wells was an active and 
efficient member, and Rev. Mr. Green, of the Orthodox Society, 
while he was a resident here, was untiring in his efforts to render 
the exercises popular and interesting. They were not unaided ; 
young men, the middle-aged and "those with silvery locks" were 
willing and efficient contributors to the public exercises. All our 
citizens were deeply interested in its prosperity ; the halls where its 
meetings were held were always crowded. It was common ground ; 
political or sectarian feeling was unknown, and that jostling for 
precedence, — an attribute of the weak-minded, low and vulgar, — 
was never exhibited. Initiatory steps were taken, the second year 
of its existence, for the formation of a library. Its beginning was 
small. We give its catalogue: Nicholson's Encyclopedia, twelve 
volumes, presented by Joseph Storer; Collections of the American 
Antiquarian Society, presented by Daniel L. Hatch; Library of 
Entertaining Knowledge, twenty-two volumes, viz. : Pursuit of 
Knowledge, four volumes. Vegetable Substances, two volumes. 
Insect Architecture, two volumes, New Zealanders, Insect Transfor- 
mations, Menageries, one volume each. Architecture of Birds, two 
volumes, Quadrupeds, three volumes, Historical Parallels, two vol- 
umes, Paris and its Historical Scenes, two volumes. Practical Nat- 
uralist and Culture of Silk, one volume each ; Mechanic's Magazine, 
monthly, and Scientific Tracts. Among the additions in after years 
were the Republication of the Four English Quarterlies, American 
Quarterly Review and the Franklin Institute, monthly. The works 
here enumerated would, doubtless, be regarded as "dry reading" by 
the majority of the public at this day; but such a collection of read- 
ing matter was an appropriate auxiliary in the promotion of the 
work for which this association was instituted. A very good philo- 
sophical apparatus was also purchased. 

The larger part of the lectures were on scientific subjects, but 
they were attentively listened to by large audiences, composed of 



452 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

both sexes of all ages, from youths of fifteen to adults who had 
passed threescore and ten. The library was not neglected; its 
bound volumes and periodicals were carefully read by the younger 
as well as the older members of the community. When the society 
was dissolved the apparatus (such of it as was unbroken) was pre- 
sented by the subscribers to Union Academy, and we think the 
library was similarly disposed of, excepting a few valuable volumes 
which were returned to the donors. The meetings of the association 
were free to all who desired to attend, and the expenses attending 
them were defrayed by individual subscriptions. We think that it 
maybe correctly stated that the " Elizabethan period " in Kenne- 
bunk was between the years 1810 and 1840. 

A number of gentlemen who were desirous that a course of lec- 
tures should be delivered in this village, during the winter of 185 1- 
52, met on the twenty-eighth of November, 185 1, and seventeen 
pledged themselves to defray the expenses of the course ; that is, 
in case the expenses exceeded the amount received from the sale of 
tickets, they would make up the deficiency. At a subsequent meet- 
ing of the guarantors a board of managers was chosen, viz. : Daniel 
Remich, William B. Sewall, Rev. Joshua A. Swan, Joseph Dane, Jr., 
and Edward W. Morton. (Mr. Remich declined to act as chairman, 
Mr. Sewall being the oldest member of the board, an arrangement, 
however, to which Mr. Sewall would not consent.) The organization 
was completed by the choice of Joseph Dane, Jr., as treasurer and 
E. W. Morton as secretary. 

The lecturers and their subjects during the season were as fol- 
lows: Rev. Mr. Chickering, of Portland, "Switzerland"; Rev. Mr. 
Stone, of Boston, "Kossuth"; Rev. Mr. Harrington, of Lawrence; 
Rev. Mr. Ware, of Cambridge, "The Fine Arts"; two lectures by 
Rev. Mr. Bowman, of Kennebunkport, " Cowper and his Poems " 
and "The Beautiful"; Rev. Mr. Carruthers, of Portland, also deliv^- 
ered two lectures, "Russia" and "Tartar Tribes"; Rev. Mr. Fisk, 
of Bath, "Mental Greatness"; Rev. Mr. Hopkins, of Saco ; Rev. 
Mr. Judd, of Augusta, " The Beautiful " ; Rev. Dr. Gannet, of Bos- 
ton, "Conversation." 

The second course, 1852-53, was conducted by the same board 
of managers. Mr. Dane, as treasurer, and Dr. Morton, as secre- 
tary, resigned their respective offices, and the vacancies were filled 
by the choice of Mr. Remich as treasurer and Edward W. Lord as 
secretary. 



HISTORY OF KENNEEUNK. 453 

The lecturers and their subjects were as follows: Rev. Mr. 
Judd, of Augusta, "Law of Love"; Mr. Jewett, of Portland, two 
lectures, "Ancient Shipbuilding" and "Modern Shipbuilding"; 
Rev. J. W. Abbott, of Brunswick, "Scenes in the Life of Louis 
Fourteenth"; Mr. Cowes, of Portsmouth, "The Tide"; Rev. R. C. 
Waterston, of Boston, " Scotland " ; Rev. Mr. Willetts, of Philadel- 
phia, "The Man for the Times"; Rev. Mr. Mclntire, two, "Astron- 
omy"; Edward W. Lord, "Patriotism"; Edward E. Bourne, Jr., 
"Benedict Arnold"; Rev. T. Starr King, of Boston, "Substance 
and Show"; Rev. Mr. Holland, of Boston, "Palestine"; Professor 
Hoyt, of Exeter, "Education"; Rev. Mr. Wilcox, "The Providence 
of God as Manifested in the Progress of the Human Race," and 
Rev. Mr. Woodbury, of Concord, N. H., "Luther." 

There were two or three courses of lectures between the years 
1838 and 185 1, conducted on the same plan as the foregoing, and it 
is believed under nearly the same management, but we think that 
the records are not now to be found, and we are consequently unable 
to furnish any detailed account of them. The able and popular lec- 
turer, Henry Giles, was here, and there were two or three lectures 
on Chemistry by Professor King. Since 1853 there have been, 
frequently, courses of lectures, but we think no formal organization 
for conducting them, and a less number have constituted a course. 
Recently the course of lectures has been superseded by one of enter- 
tainments, divided about equally between concerts and literatures. 

Temperance. 
The Gazette of February 4, 1826, contained an editorial severely 
condemning the indiscriminate sale of ardent spirits. Mr. Remich, 
while returning from his office labors, which frequently detained him 
until a late hour, often met persons staggering toward their dwelling 
places, and it was not uncommon, on the morning following such an 
«vent, to hear of the abuse of wives or families by these inebriated 
individuals, or that their habits were causing destitution and suffer- 
ing. He felt it to be a duty to call public attention to this mon- 
strous evil, which was evidently on the increase in the village and 
in neighboring towns. This astounding article — which we think 
was the first attack, editorially, upon the dramshops and intemper- 
ance ever made by any paper in the State — was followed, in the two 
successive issues, by editorials and communications equally pointed 
and pungent. These caused great excitement. A few openly 
approved. Many, privately, acknowledged their truthfulness, but 



454 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

questioned the expediency of a crusade that must inevitably cause 
much bitterness of feeling and which it was idle to suppose could 
result in the reformation desired, and not a few gave utterance to 
sentiments of disapproval and disgust, accompanied, occasionally, 
with threats of personal violence. Mr. Remich was not at all 
affected by the latter. His well-known great physical strength and 
fearlessness were ample guarantees of his perfect immunity from 
any attempt to punish him by the application of brute force. 

The immediate effects of these exposures were : The loss of 
about one hundred and fifty subscribers to the Gazette,^ who were 
citizens of Kennebunk, Lyman, Kennebunkport and Wells; the 
closing, at an earlier hour, of the shops of those who felt that they 
were the persons against whom these shafts were aimed; the seek- 
ing, by the victims of dissipation, of some other way than the main 
street by which to reach their abodes ; the free discussion and calm 
consideration of the subject by the thoughtful and judicious, which 
resulted in the hearty endorsement of the warfare that had been 
initiated, and, by the more resolute, in a determination to give their 
aid, actively, to a cause so deserving; and the often repeated, ear- 
nest and tearful thanks to the editor, by wives and sons and daugh- 
ters, for the good work in which he was engaged. 

In order to fully appreciate the circumstances under which this 
warfare was commenced, we must consider the then condition of 
things in regard to the use of and traffic in intoxicants. The public 
tacitly approved of the sale of them ; the use of them, as a beverage, 
was nearly universal, a very small percentage of the citizens being 
total abstinents ; to deal in them was not regarded as at all disrep- 
utable ; they were retailed in every store and public house in town, 
but it should be added that a large percentage of this number 
always peremptorily refused to sell to immoderate drinkers. 

It appears by the treasurer's ledger that the first money received 
by the town treasurer was paid him, September ii, 182 1, for twenty- 
one licenses to retail ardent spirits, which amounted to the sum of 
one hundred and twenty-six dollars, and between the above-named 
date and January, 1824, fifteen additional licenses were granted, 

^The Essex Gazette, published by Abijah W. Thayer, in Haverhill. Mass., wa* 
the first political paper that ever came out in advocacy of total abstinence from 
intoxicating liquors, and the second of any kind, either in America or In the 
■world. This was in 1821. " Such was the opposition to the movement that In a 
short time he lost about four hundred subscribers. Mr. Thayer removed to Port- 
land in 1822, where, until the autumn of 182rt. he was connected with the Independ- 
ent Statesman, at first as editor, and subsequently as editor and proprietor." He 
returned to Haverhill in 182*3. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 455 

making a total of thirty-six individuals and firms in Kennebunk who 
were licensed as retailers; three of these were innholders, one 
keeper of a victualing cellar, twenty-one storekeepers in the village, 
six storekeepers at the Landing, and five small groceries outside 
the village. 

The Gazette relaxed none of its energy in keeping the subject 
before the people, by the publication of appropriate original and 
selected matter. Within a brief space of time after the movement 
under consideration vi^as initiated, several retailers relinquished the 
traffic, and the use of ardent spirits as a beverage was considerably 
diminished ; the good work was quietly, but persistently, prosecuted, 
and with encouraging success. In 1829 a temperance society was 
formed. 

At this time the pauper tax became a subject of general com- 
plaint. It had been gradually increasing for several years. The 
municipal officers were severely censured, but the closest examina- 
tion proved that they had performed the duties devolving upon 
them in reference to this matter, as well as in all other particulars, 
faithfully and with due regard to the best interests of the town. 
The number of paupers was very large in proportion to its popula- 
tion. A committee was appointed at a town meeting held in April, 
1830, who were instructed to ascertain the number of persons 
assisted by the town, their condition, habits, etc. In due time this 
committee made a report, embodying the material facts obtained in 
the course of a careful and patient examination of the subject, and 
these facts conclusively proved that three-fourths of the pauperism 
in the village could be traced to intemperance. This aroused public 
attention. As a matter of policy, and over and above all as a matter 
intimately connected with the best interests of society, its morals, 
prosperity and rational enjoyment, the temperance cause should 
receive the earnest support of every good citizen. Several retailers 
of ardent spirits abandoned the traffic; many who had been moder- 
ate drinkers became total abstinents. Meetings for the discussion 
of the subject w^ere held in the village and in the schoolhouses in 
the several school districts, all of which were well attended and un- 
deniably productive of good results, but a few of the retailers held 
on to the traffic and resorted to every means in their power to render 
abortive the work of the advocates of temperance, whose private 
characters were bitterly assailed and to whom the most offensive 
terms were applied. Small politicians improved the opportunity to 
misrepresent facts and excite prejudices with the view of gaining 



456 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

votes from the slaves to a morbid appetite. The most intense 
excitement prevailed for two or three years. The subject of pau- 
perism and its causes was brought before the Lyceum, previously 
alluded to, and a committee (James K. Remich, Joseph Dane and 
John Low) was appointed to consider the question and report. This 
duty they performed. After the report had been read, several gen- 
tlemen spoke earnestly and well in defense of the propositions of 
the committee, but the speech of the evening was made by Judge 
William A. Hayes, or "Father Hayes" as he was called, of South 
Berwick, who happened to be present, and who, after complimenting 
the committee for the able manner in which they had treated the 
question, proceeded to advocate its principles and recommendations 
in a masterly manner. His remarks were listened to with the deep- 
est interest and were afterward frequently referred to as exceedingly 
appropriate and impressive. The consideration of the report occu- 
pied the Lyceum two or three evenings. The question of license 
or no license was brought before the town, and an amusing medley 
it produced. Lifelong Democrats and lifelong Republicans were 
seen working together zealously in opposition to licenses, and 
Republicans and Democrats, until now unyielding antagonists at 
the polls, were clasping hands and unitedly laboring in favor of 
licenses. Party politics were forgotten in this contest. 

"Uncle Ben," as he was familiarly called, was among the most 
noted "topers" in town. He was very respectably connected, kind- 
hearted, upright and, excepting his great failing, a man of good 
sense and sound judgment. He was famous as a gunner, fisher and 
trapper; a man of "infinite jest, of most excellent fancy"; he was 
the father of a family of boys and girls of whom he was proud, and 
who were worthy the pride of any father; still he could not resist the 
tempter. No one knew better or felt more keenly the degradation 
resulting from the habit to which he was addicted than "Uncle 
Ben"; no one could describe more feelingly than he would the evils 
attendant upon a drunkard's life. Occasionally he would abandon 
the habit for a short time, but the sight or smell of spirits would 
lead him at once to indulge his appetite to excess. When the 
license question was under consideration at this meeting — an 
excited, turbulent meeting — a motion was made and carried to 
"divide the house"; all in favor of licensing to be seated in the 
pews on the left-hand side (as you enter) of the broad aisle of the 
church in which the town meetings were then held, all opposed to 
be seated on the right-hand side. "Uncle Ben" very deliberately 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 457 

took his seat in a pew on the right. From the left came a dozen 
voices: '"Uncle Ben,' 'Uncle Ben,' you are on the wrong side; 
come over here." With a sad countenance, but with a firm tone, 
"Uncle Ben" answered: "I know I am a poor, miserable old 
drunkard, but I am a man of principle, I shall stay here." 

For awhile it seemed doubtful which side would prevail, so 
nearly equally divided were the combatants, but at the close of the 
struggle a vote was passed, by a small majority, April i, 1833, 
instructing the selectmen not to grant licenses for the sale of spirit- 
uous liquors to be drank in the stores or places of business of those 
by whom it might be sold, and requesting the selectmen not to grant 
licenses for the sale of liquors in any quantity. The selectmen 
obeyed the instruction and recommendation of their constituents. 
The beneficial results of this action were soon apparent : spirituous 
liquors were still sold, but clandestinely, and their use was consid- 
erably diminished; the virtue of sobriety, with its attendant blessings, 
gained ground among the population and the traffic in stimulants 
was becoming discreditable. 

"Zion's Hill," an appellation almost universally given to a 
small portion of our village by residents of the town, and by which 
it is somewhat extensively known abroad, obtained its title during 
the evening of the day on which these votes were passed. A strong 
advocate of licensing was bewailing the defeat of the measure and 
denouncing the Gazette — the proprietor of which lived on this terri- 
tory and three-fourths of the heads of families who dwelt there were 
fast friends of the temperance cause — and wound up his harangue 
as follows : " We should have no trouble at all about this liquor 

business if it wasn't for them d d aristocrats on Zion's Hill." 

This title, then first given to the locality (more than fifty years ago), 
has steadily adhered to it, at first as a joke, then as a convenient 
term by which to designate this part of the village ; and later it has, 
by long-continued use, become an established name, very few mak- 
ing an inquiry or indulging a thought respecting its origin. 

At the May term of the Court of County Commissioners, held 
at Alfred (1833), Capt. Charles Bradbury, of Kennebunkport, Chair- 
man, Ayer and Boyd, Associates, four petitions were presented, by 
persons belonging to this town, praying the Court to grant a license 
for the sale of ardent spirits to each of them. The Court took up 
one of these petitions, wherein it was alleged that the petitioner had 
applied to the selectmen for a license to sell spirits to be drank away 
from the store, "which request had been improperly refused." The 



458 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

evidence adduced and the arguments of counsel, in behalf of peti- 
tioner and respondents, occupied nearly a whole day. After the 
hearing Chairman Bradbury gave his opinion at considerable length, 
which opinion was fully concurred in by his associates. It was 
that the petition should be dismissed, and in consequence of this 
decision the other petitions were withdrawn. 

In the winter of 1833 James K. Remich issued proposals for 
publishing, at Kennebunk, a large quarto monthly paper to be called 
"The Friend," to be devoted to the advocacy of the cause of tem- 
perance. The proposition was well received by friends of the cause 
throughout the county, and by the first of May a sufficient number 
of subscribers had been received to warrant its publication, when 
notice was given that the first number would be issued in the course 
of two or three weeks. A temperance paper — whether under the 
auspices of the State Temperance Society or not we are unable to 
say, but we think that it was— had already been started at Wiscasset, 
but was not liberally patronized, and it was believed by its support- 
ers that its publication must be abandoned if "The Friend" was 
issued. It was represented to Mr. Remich that two temperance 
papers could not be sustained in the State, and that one established 
at Wiscasset, near the center of population, would be productive of 
greater good to the cause than at Kennebunk, near the western 
boundary of the State. Under these circumstances Mr. Remich 
conferred with the leading temperance men in the county, express- 
ing his belief that it would be better to unite in the support of the 
Wiscasset paper. They differed with him in opinion, but finally 
reluctantly withdrew their objections, and on the eighth of June 
notice was given that "The Friend" would not be published, for 
awhile at least. A few of the gentlemen who had engaged to con- 
tribute to the columns of "The Friend" consented to write occa- 
sionally for the Wiscasset paper, and quite a number of those who 
had subscribed for the former became patrons of the last named. 
The larger part of the temperance workers in the county were never 
fully satisfied with this arrangement and did not give a hearty 
support to the paper at Wiscasset. Mr. Remich, in later years, 
admitted that he made a great mistake in this matter, that in this 
instance his "zeal outran his discretion." "The Friend" would 
have had a large and very able corps of contributors, while its sub- 
scription list afforded a guarantee that it would have been strongly 
supported. It was not expected, of course, that it would prove a 
"money-making concern." We think that the Wiscasset paper was 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 459 

discontinued in April, 1834, or that its place of publication was then 
changed to Augusta, where it was published monthly, with the title 
of the "Maine Temperance Herald," by the executive committee of 
the State Society for several years. 

At a meeting of the executive committee of the Temperance 
Society, December 28, 1835, "poi^ motion of Rev. Mr. Wells, it was 
voted that a committee be appointed to confer with Mr. James K. 
Remich to see whether an arrangement could be made to circulate in 
pamphlet form the matter contained in the Temperance Department 
of the Kennebunk Gazette. Mr. Wells and Mr. William M. Bryant 
were chosen. 

A report made to the society by its secretary at its annual 
meeting in 1837 embraced a full history of its progress from the 
date of its foundation to the date of the report, which was published 
by a vote of the society. Its length precludes us from copying it. 

The Washingtonian movement commenced in this town early 
in the autumn of 1841. The society was composed of those who 
had been addicted to the immoderate use of ardent spirits. The 
"Kennebunk Washington Total Abstinence Society" held its first 
public meeting in the meeting-house of the First Parish, Sunday 
evening, October 17, 1841, when an address was made by Mr. Bar- 
timus, of Boston, who was followed by several members in brief 
remarks, during which they depicted the evils resulting from intem- 
perance, proving the soundness of their statements by narrations of 
their experiences as individuals. This organization was very active 
and it is believed was productive of great good in this town during 
the years 1841 and '42. Mr. Bartimus was a faithful laborer in the 
cause, and by personal interviews and public addresses influenced 
many to abandon the use of intoxicants and to become consistent 
members of the society which was formed through his exertions. 

"Father Hayes" succeeded Mr. Bartimus. He spoke in each 
of the schoolhouses in town, outside the village, and in the churches 
of the First and Second Parishes, explaining and advocating the 
cause for the advancement of which he was laboring. He was 
always accompanied by members of the society, who strengthened 
his declarations by a portrayal of the wrongs that they had 
inflicted upon themselves by the intemperate use of alcoholic 
liquors, and the happiness, prosperity and respectability that 
had rewarded them for a strict adherence to temperance. Great 
good had then already been accomplished by the old society, 
•which had been in the field several years and had thoroughly 



460 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

aroused the public to a thoughtful consideration of the subject. 
The class of persons to whom the Washingtonians particularly 
addressed themselves was not, therefore, without full knowledge of 
the efforts that they were making to diminish the use and repress 
the sale of the "liquid poison." They had, however, looked upon 
these efforts with aversion, regarding them as an attempt to "deprive 
men of their liberties " and as an unauthorized interference with their 
"rights"; but curiosity was excited to hear the stories told by per- 
sons "who had been in the gutter," and while listening to them they 
felt that they were true. Hearts were touched, hopes were enkin- 
dled, resolutions were formed, and new lives, new homes and higher 
and nobler aims were opened to them. A large number joined the 
Washingtonians; some were unfaithful, but the larger part were true 
to their pledges and became valuable members of the community. 

This society celebrated Washington's birthday anniversary in 
1842 by a supper, etc., at the Town Hall. Capt. James Hubbard 
presided, assisted by several vice presidents. Many members of 
the old organization were present and took an active part in the 
exercises. A sumptuous collation, furnished under the supervision 
of Capt. Samuel Littlefield, was served, of which one hundred and 
seventy ladies and gentlemen partook. A series of fourteen regular 
toasts, which had been prepared by Daniel Remich, was read by 
him. " Father Hayes " responded to the second, Rev. Mr. Edes to 
the fifth, E. E. Bourne to the eighth, and Samuel Emerson to the 
eleventh. Several temperance odes and songs were sung during 
the evening by Israel Kimball, of Wells, in his usual elegant style. 
The evening was spent rationally and delightfully. There were 
sterling jokes, brilliant flashes of wit, high-toned moral sentiments, 
interesting and pertinent anecdotes, merry peals of laughter, loud 
and repeated cheers, all calculated to impart innocent hilarity to the 
occasion and to render it "a feast of reason and a flow of soul." 

At the annual town meeting, April 2, 1842, the temperance 
ticket for town officers prevailed by a handsome majority. Resolu- 
tions were adopted instructing the selectmen to prosecute all viola- 
tions of the license laws in this town which might come to their 
knowledge, and also to carry on the several suits that had been 
already commenced for such violations. 

Frequent meetings under the auspices of this society were held 
in different parts of the town throughout the year and the winter of 
1843, which were largely attended and with good results. The 
twenty-second of February of that year was celebrated, in Union 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 461 

Hall, in like manner as was this anniversary the previous year. 
Mr. Barnard, of Boston, and Rev. Mr, Burr, of Portland, delivered 
stirring addresses. After Mr. Hayes had left town, in March, 1842, 
the old and new societies worked together, for a time zealously, but 
there was a gradual relaxation of their efforts. 

The next organization devoted to the advancement of the tem- 
perance reform was the "Sons and Daughters of Temperance," a 
secret society, which was conducted with earnestness, good judg- 
ment and gratifying success for several years, when it was succeeded 
by the " Good Templars," also a secret society, but embracing more 
elements of popularity than its immediate predecessor. This has 
been, from its commencement to the present time, a flourishing and 
effective association. The Good Templars Lodge in the village, 
called "Salus Lodge, No. 156," was organized June 8, 1866. "Ear- 
nest Lodge, No. 55," of Good Templars is also a flourishing society, 
with its headquarters at the Eastern Depot Village, in West Kenne- 
bunk. It was organized March 15, 1876. 

The old society, the pioneer in the good work, retired from the 
contest years ago. It had battled against fearful odds, it had been 
engaged in political strife, it had been opposed by all the bitter hos- 
tility that could be engendered by perverted appetites, by cupidity 
unrestrained by moral sentiments. Its members had been the 
objects of bitter hatred, of petty persecutions and of obloquy; they 
had stemmed the torrent of adverse circumstances, working and 
warring with strong hearts and unflinching action. The society had 
accomplished its mission and its record is a noble one. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE FIRE SOCIETY. 

The first volume of the Records of the Society commences 
thus: " Kennebunk, Monday, loth February, 1812. The inhabit- 
ants of this place having met several times to consult upon the 
formation of a Fire Society, without carrying anything into effect, 
again met this evening in Webster's Hall, by adjournment, farther 
to consider the necessary steps to be taken to organize said Society." 
Dr. Jacob Fisher was chosen moderator, Robert Waterston, secre- 
tary, and Nathaniel Frost, Joseph Dane and Robert Waterston were 
appointed to form a "code of By-Laws and to report thereon." 
The meeting was then adjourned to the following Monday evening, 
when the committee appointed to prepare by-laws made a report. 
It was voted that they go into operation on the first of the next 
June and seventy-five copies were ordered to be printed. The 
society was organized by the choice of Joseph Thomas, president, 
Isaac C. Pray, secretary, Timothy Frost, treasurer, Michael Wise, 
collector, and John Low, Nathaniel Jefferds and Robert Waterston, 
committee of inspection. 

The by-laws made it the duty of the committee of inspection to 
examine the engine and its apparatus and to report any deficiences 
discovered to the captain thereof, and if their suggestions were not 
seasonably attended to, then to report to the society at its next 
annual meeting or at a special meeting. They also provided that 
the society have a watchword, to be altered at their pleasure, and 
any member not giving the countersign when demanded by the 
president, at a meeting or at a fire, should pay a fine of twenty-five 
cents. The only reference in the records to this provision appears 
in the proceedings of the annual meeting in 1833, when it was voted 
that '"Yard I ' be the watchword for the present year." 

The society, at its organization, numbered thirty-four members. 

At the second annual meeting it was voted to purchase a drag- 
rope for the fire hook. In 18 15 the treasurer was authorized to 
purchase a fire hook, complete, for the use of the society, and in 
1817 the treasurer was requested to cause a shed to be built in 
order that the fire hook might be kept under cover, 

462 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 463 

The first society supper was in 1817, in compliance with a vote 
adopted the preceding year, a custom which has been "honored in 
the observance " from that date until the present time, with only 
two or three exceptions. 

In 1 8 19 the treasurer was requested to furnish a breastplate 
and rope traces with hooks for the purpose of harnessing a horse to 
the engine. 

In 182 1 the society appointed a committee of one to take care 
of the engine, and also elected a captain and a lieutenant to take 
charge thereof in time of fire, and voted that the members be under 
the control of these officers and that the society meet on the first 
Monday of each month in the year at the engine house "one hour 
by the sun in the afternoon." The monthly meetings were dispensed 
with in 1824, and for a number of years afterward the members 
were required to be present only on the first Mondays in May and 
September at five p. m. In 183 1 Elisha Chadbourne, the captain, 
by appointment by and under instructions from the Fire Society, 
notifies the members of said society that for the purpose of getting 
out and working the engine they have been divided into two classes, 
— those residing on the eastern side of Scotchman's Brook consti- 
tuting the first class, and those on the western side of said brook the 
second class, — said classes to meet alternately on the first Monday 
of April and the five following months, commencing with the first 
class, which is notified to meet at the engine house the fourth of 
April at half-past five in the afternoon. 

A second lieutenant was added to the list of officers of the 
engine in 1829. These appointments were made and meetings were 
held inasmuch as there was no engine company. It appears, how- 
ever, that a company was formed the second of July, 1832, at which 
date new "Rules and Regulations" were adopted. Article I of 
which reads as follows: "This Company shall be known by the 
name of the Kennebunk Engine Company, No. i." The society 
voted at its annual meeting in 1833 to appoint a committee of three 
to examine the engine once a month and in case the company should 
be disbanded or should fail to keep the engine in good repair, said 
committee were empowered to keep it in order and present their bill 
to this society for payment. The same year new editions of the 
revised by-laws were printed; these were again revised in 1839 ^"^ 
in 1857, in which years new editions were issued. 

In 182 1 the society for the first time nominated candidates for 
fire wardens and in 1830 furnished them with "staffs." 



464 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

In 1835 ^ subscription was made by members and other citi- 
zens amounting to sixty-six dollars and forty-seven cents, which was 
expended for repairing the engine and purchasing necessary fire 
apparatus. Again in 1849 the sum of sixty-five dollars and fifty 
cents was raised for the same purpose, in like manner, and in 1852 
the sum of six hundred and thirty-two dollars was also raised by 
subscription for the purchase of a new engine and needed apparatus; 
this was called the Washington. In 1880 it was considered expe- 
dient to purchase another engine, one that would do more efficient 
work than the old Washington ; this was done at a cost of one 
thousand dollars. Five hundred feet of cable hose with couplings 
was also purchased, costing three hundred and seventy-five dollars, 
which, together with an additional sum of two hundred and twenty- 
five dollars expended in a good secondhand hose carriage and in 
building a tower on the south end of the engine house, made a total 
of sixteen hundred dollars. 

The Safeguard has proved to be an excellent machine, adapted 
to our wants as regards simplicity, excellence of materials and man- 
ufacture and the ease with which it can be worked. 

In 1847 it was voted that ladies be admitted to the supper at 
the next meeting. In 1867 a similar vote was passed and at the 
annual meeting the following year nineteen ladies were present by 
invitation of members, a practice which has been continued with 
increasing favor to the present time. 

In looking over its records, which, by the way, appear generally 
to have been carefully and accurately made, no marked or particu- 
larly interesting incidents are found in the history of this society. 
It has pursued its course, not always in perfect harmony, but with 
as little wrangle or jar as could be expected, and less by far than 
usually attends the management of associations of a similar charac- 
ter. Its meetings, with few exceptions, have been exceedingly 
pleasant, the questions coming up for consideration rarely exciting 
lively or acrimonious debate, while the measures adopted have usu- 
ally been carried without a division. It is apparent that at no time 
has there been a lack of interest in the great object of the associa- 
tion; existing evils or wants have been brought to its notice 
promptly, and measures to remedy the one or supply the other have 
been taken without delay and with perfect unanimity. 

Several votes of the society, adopted at different times, have 
been quoted to show that the fire apparatus has always been con- 
sidered its special charge ; when no engine company existed it has 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 465 

been considered its duty to take the necessary steps for the preser- 
vation of all the apparatus, as well as to make ample provision for 
the working of the engine should fires occur, and when a company 
did exist, to appoint a committee of one or more to inspect the 
apparatus and to report, annually, in reference to its condition. 

The Kennebunk Fire Society has not been an inoperative asso- 
ciation. Whether all has been accomplished that might have been 
through its agency we are not prepared to affirm, but that it has 
been an instrument of great good does not admit of a doubt. Its 
purpose is one in which all are interested. The owner or occupant 
of buildings, the owner of personal property liable to be destroyed 
by fire, and the taxpayers are benefited by such an organization. 
The cost of equipment is not large when it is considered that the 
by-laws do not require members to furnish themselves with a single 
article which is not absolutely essential to efficient service in case 
of fire. The few trifling fines to which members are subject for 
non-appearance or deficiency in equipment add to the fund in the 
treasurer's hands, which is always carefully expended, under author- 
ity of votes of the society, for material of acknowledged utility and 
necessity. 

Devoid of the semblance even of distinction as regards party, 
sect or wealth, it is eminently a popular association. Among the 
members of this society since its organization have always been 
found the most prominent of the citizens of our town for intelligence, 
wealth and worth, and at all times an earnest desire has been mani- 
fested to increase its numerical strength and to promote its respec- 
tability and its usefulness. An organization of this description, in 
a village like ours, has a tendency to impress strangers favorably 
respecting it. Persons seeking a place in which to invest capital in 
manufactures or trade would, most assuredly, give the preference, 
other things being equal, to that which maintained the best fire 
department, especially if the indications were that it was sustained 
with cheerful and united effort and whole-souled energy. In this 
matter of membership of our society, however, throwing aside all 
the inducements which increased business and prosperity might 
offer, there is one simple reason, overreaching and outweighing any 
other that can be adduced, which it seems should be conclusive, 
and that is duty. By becoming a member of this association one 
confers a benefit on the community. He volunteers to provide safe- 
guards against conflagrations arising from carelessness or indiffer- 
ence, and he furnishes apparatus by which, in case of fire, every 

30 



466 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

required facility is at hand for its extinguishment. It is true that 
there is no show, no pomp, no parade about all this and one's only 
reward is the consciousness of having done something for the bene- 
fit of those around him. And, after all, is it not the quiet, unosten- 
tatious performance of duty to one's self and to his neighbors that 
constitutes the truly valuable citizen and the worthy man? There 
are but a very few among the millions who can win golden opinions 
by acts of rare munificence or earn a widespread and enviable rep- 
utation by fearless bravery or by powerful eloquence which sways 
the multitude, while duty, faithfully performed at all times and in 
all matters, the most minute as well as the most momentous, is the 
keystone of earthly goodness and true greatness. 

And so, although associations like ours may appear insignifi- 
cant and of little moment, they are, nevertheless, of incalculable 
importance. Indeed, it would be difficult to estimate the extent 
and value of their labors in preventing and extinguishing fires or 
the amount of suffering, loss, penury and even vice which is saved 
through their instrumentality. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

GENERAL LAFAYETTE PRESIDENT JACKSON YORK LODGE OF FREE 

AND ACCEPTED MASONS MILITARY REVIEWS FOURTH OF JULY 

CELEBRATIONS. 

Lafayette first landed on our shores April 19, 1777, at George- 
town, S. C. Shortly afterward he addressed a note to the President 
of Congress, asking permission to serve in the Continental Army 
without pay and as a volunteer. His offer was accepted, and, in 
the language of a resolution adopted by that body, "in considera- 
tion of his zeal, illustrious family and connections," he was com- 
missioned, by its order, as a major general in the Army of the 
United States. The story of his relinquishment of all the enjoy- 
ments of a happy home, of his sacrifice of personal comfort and of 
property, as well as of his invaluable services in behalf of our strug- 
gling people "battling for freedom," of his assistance on the field 
and in obtaining material aid from the French Government, is too 
well known to need more than a bare mention here. Lafayette was 
born September 6, 1757, and was married at the age of seventeen 
to a young lady of large fortune, which, added to his own, brought 
him an annual income of thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. 
He joined our army a few weeks before he reached the age of 
twenty; the English officers called him the "stripling Frenchman." 
He died in 1834 in his seventy-seventh year. 

General Lafayette accepted an invitation by Congress to visit 
the United States, as the nation's guest, in 1824, Declining the 
proposal of our government to send a national vessel for his con- 
veyance, he came passenger in a merchantman, the ship Cadmus, 
which arrived at New York on the fifteenth day of August, after a 
pleasant voyage of thirty-one days from Havre, and was accompa- 
nied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, Mr. Augusta Le 
Vasseur and one servant. He was received in a manner befitting a 
sincerely grateful people, who were welcoming a national guest emi- 
nently deserving the highest honors in their power to bestow. Of 
his companions in arms whom he left, after the battle of Yorktown, 
forty-three years before, and who greeted him with heartfelt cor- 

467 



468 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

diality on his brief visit to this country in 1784,— mainly to embrace 
and to commune with his beloved Washington, to revisit his old 
battlefield and to witness the progress of our people, — few were left; 
but the sons and daughters who received from their sires the bequest 
of liberty were here, with hearts filled with gratitude, to pay to him 
the respect richly due to our nation's benefactor. His journey 
through the country was a "perfect ovation." Not only were the 
demonstrations of esteem and affection everywhere showered upon 
him exceedingly gratifying to the nation's guest, but he must have 
seen, with feelings of pride and gratulation, the evidences of faithful 
and successful stewardship shown in the prosperity and happiness 
of those who had entered upon the inheritance won through wise 
counsels, brave armies and timely aid, which, under a beneficent 
Providence, had brought to a prosperous issue the patriotic labors 
of those who risked their all in support of the principles of the 
great Declaration. 

Friday, the twenty-fifth of June, 1825, was a holiday in Kenne- 
bunk. The male portion of our townsfolk were astir at an early hour, 
for the purpose of giving the finishing touches to the street decora- 
tions and of making preparations for the cavalcade — the former 
erected and the latter to be formed — in honor of the illustrious Lafay- 
ette, who was to be the guest of our citizens for a few hours in the 
afternoon of that day. He reached Wells about noon and was escorted 
from its western to its eastern boundary by a large number of the 
gentlemen of that town, the procession passing under two beautiful 
arches in the village which had been thrown across the street from 
Curtis's store on the southerly side to the stores of Littlefield and of 
Morrell on the northerly side. At the western boundary of Kenne- 
bunk the nation's guest was received by a large cavalcade of its citi- 
zens — Horace Porter, chief marshal — and many gentlemen from the 
neighboring towns led by General Allen, of Sanford. When Lafayette 
and his escort were about a mile from the village, which he reached 
at one o'clock in the afternoon, a national salute was fired under 
the direction of Maj. James Osborn, of the Artillery, and Capt. 
Samuel Littlefield, of the Militia, and the bell sent forth its peal of 
welcome. The cavalcade proceeded as far as the meeting-house, 
greeted with hurrahs and other demonstrations of respect and joy- 
ousness from the long line of strangers and citizens, of both sexes 
and of all ages, which had been formed on both sides of the street 
from the bridge to the point just named, thus affording an opportu- 
nity for all to see the honored visitor. At the meeting-house the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 469 

cavalcade wheeled and returned as far as Towle's Hotel, where 
Dr. Samuel Emerson, chairman of the committee of arrangements, 
addressed Lafayette as follows: — 

" By the appointment of my fellow villagers and at their request 
I have the honor to bid General Lafayette a most cordial welcome, 
and to assure him that, though our climate is the coldest in the 
United States, our hearts are warm with gratitude for the distin- 
guished services rendered our beloved country in her struggle for 
independence. 

"You have gone the rounds of the encampment of Liberty, 
you have seen the omnipotence of her power and resources, and 
your heart has exulted in the fruits of your pious labors. Every 
true American has traveled with you, in imagination, and felt an 
honest pride in the admiration you have expressed. 

"This little village, with thousands more, has literally been 
redeemed from the forest since you fought by the side of Father 
Washington; and the children of those brave soldiers whose bleed- 
ing feet your generosity supplied with shoes, when the only wealth 
the country possessed was her courage, are now presenting to your 
view unbounded wealth, unequaled respect and unrivaled welcome. 
*********** 

"But, General, your adopted Country trembles to trust you in 
the power of tyrants; would to Heaven you could tarry among us 
till the summons comes to call you to the realms of celestial Liberty ! 
God grant that your life may be prolonged to the very verge of sub- 
lunary enjoyment; that those who survive may deposit your remains 
in the same soil with Washington, Greene, Lincoln, Knox, and the 
whole radiant galaxy of your compatriots, whose sacred memory, 
like your own, can never perish. This, sir, is the united sentiment 
of every one who so cordially echoes the universal paean, 'Welcome, 
Lafayette.' " 

General Lafayette responded as follows: — 

" I am highly gratified to be so affectionately welcomed by the 
people of Kennebunk, and by you, my dear sir, to have that wel- 
come expressed in the most kind and flattering terms. I thank you. 
I thank all my friends for their symjDalhy in the delight I have felt 
to find in these extensive and patriotic rounds the happy results of 
independence, freedom and self-government. While I had the 
honor to be persecuted by every government of Europe, without one 
single exception, I equally gloried in the thought of my preserving 



470 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

the approbation and of my living in the truly Republican hearts of 
the American people. 

"Now, sir, after this happy visit to every one of the United 
States, I will not only rejoice at the witnessed salvation on this 
extensive empire, at the already effected salvation of the American 
hemisphere, I will bless the anticipated salvation of mankind, to 
whom the first example has been given of a true and complete 
national liberty. Accept, my dear sir, and all of you who so eagerly, 
so friendlily throng around us, be pleased to accept my most affec- 
tionate and respectful acknowledgments." 

At the close of these ceremonies (which occurred near the 
entrance on the southerly side of the house) the General was con- 
ducted to the parlor, where all who desired were introduced to him ; 
a large number availed themselves of this opportunity, among whom 
were many Revolutionary worthies. The General was conducted 
thence to the dining hall, where he and his suite, together with 
many of our citizens and of the visitors from the neighboring towns, 
partook of an excellent dinner prepared under the supervision of 
the landlady, Mrs. Nathaniel M. Towle. "The table and hall were 
beautifully decorated, and the table was bountifully supplied with 
choice food, embracing not only the substantials but all the rarities 
of the season." After dinner a number of toasts were given, the 
first by Doctor Emerson, the chairman, which was complimentary 
to the nation's guest, who responded by expressing his grateful 
acknowledgments and giving the following toast: — ■ 

"The town of Kenncbunk, where the first tree was felled on 
the day when the first gun of American and universal liberty was 
fired at Lexington; may the glorious date be to flourishing Kenne- 
bunk a pledge of everlasting and ever-increasing republican pros- 
perity and happiness." 

[General Lafayette had been informed that the first tree was 
felled on the site of the hotel on the nineteenth of April, 1775 ; but 
he misunderstood, and gained the idea that the first tree felled in 
the township was on that day.] 

Just before leaving the hall, General Lafayette being requested 
to give a volunteer toast said : " I rise from this chair, so kindlj', 
so beautifully ornamented, to propose to you 'The Kennebunk 
Ladies.' " [The chair on which he sat had been very tastefully 
ornamented with flowers, a wreath of which formed an arch over 
his head.l 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 471 

The after-dinner exercises having closed, General Lafayette 
and his suite, by invitation, made a short call at the residence of 
Joseph Storer, accompanied by a few of the officers of the day. 
Mrs. Storer had collected all the ladies of the village to pay their 
respects to the beloved guest. Here, after having been introduced 
to the ladies present, he was seated at the head of a table most 
beautifully ornamented and laden with delicacies which were 
arranged in a manner that elicited genera! admiration and of which 
he partook sparingly. 

At half-past four o'clock General Lafayette and his suite left 
town for Saco, escorted by many of the citizens as far as the western 
boundary of Biddeford, where he was received by a numerous cav- 
alcade of gentlemen belonging to that town and Saco. 

The decorations on the streets and the bridge were very fine. 
The first was an arch — the handiwork of gentlemen and ladies at 
the Landing — thrown across the street near Towle's Hotel, taste- 
fully covered with flags, flowers and evergreens, and conspicuously 
inscribed, "Washington — Lafayette." The second, third and fourth 
were arches thrown across the bridge and inscribed " Brandy wine"; 
the arches and bridge were beautifully decorated with small trees of 
various kinds and evergreens. The fifth was a double arch from 
the "Phoenix building" (occupying the present site of the bank) to 
one of the trees on the opposite side of the street, with the inscrip- 
tion, facing west, "The Boy's Escaped" [referring to Lafayette's 
escape from the British in the affair at Barren Hill, Penn., May i8, 
1778]; on the reverse, "Yorktown." 

The day was drawing to a close when the distinguished guest 
and the cavalcade in his honor passed the eastern boundary of the 
town. The weather had been all that could be desired, the expec- 
tations of those who had crowded the streets had been fully realized, 
and at sundown the visitors were directing their steps homeward 
and the citizens had returned to their dwelling places, all gratified 
with the events of the day, which may be regarded as one of the 
most memorable in the annals of the town. 

There were, however, a few exceptions. Professional pick- 
pockets were in the crowd, who succeeded in purloining a pocket- 
book from Capt. Elijah Bettes containing about one thousand dollars 
in notes and drafts, a pocketbook from Mr. Samuel Lord containing 
five hundred dollars in notes of hand and bank bills, a pocketbook 
from Judge Clark containing forty-five dollars in bank bills and valu- 
able papers ; and a visitor had eight dollars in bank bills drawn from 



472 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

his pocketbook. The suspicious conduct of three individuals who 
were loitering about the village on the twenty-fourth led to the belief 
that they were the criminals. Col. Enoch Hardy and three other 
gentlemen belonging to the village started in pursuit of the sus- 
pected persons. In Portland information was obtained that stran- 
gers answering the description given of these had been there, but 
had left town a few hours before the inquiries were made. Ascer- 
taining that they had taken the road leading to Saco, the gentlemen 
in pursuit were soon on the track of the rogues, and overtaking 
them in Kennebunk caused them to be arrested. They were exam- 
ined before a justice's court, ordered to recognize for their appear- 
ance at the fall term of the Supreme Court, and failing to obtain 
sureties were committed to Alfred jail. Their names were Lewis 
Martin, aged about forty-five years, Louis Smith, about twenty-four, 
and Gardiner Hayford, still younger. A large portion of the money 
stolen from our citizens was recovered. Martin was tried, for tak- 
ing a pocketbook from Jonas Clark, at the September term of the 
Supreme Judicial Court, held at Alfred, found guilty, and sentenced 
to twenty days' solitary confinement and five years' hard labor in 
the State prison; Smith turned State's evidence and was permitted 
to go without punishment, and Hayford, who was indicted for 
receiving stolen money and harboring a felon, was acquitted. It 
appeared that these r(»gues had followed Lafayette from Boston to 
Portland and had pursued their criminal avocations very success- 
fully in almost every town through which he passed. 

General Lafayette left New York in September for his native 
shores in the then new United States frigate Brandywine. 

President Jackson visited New England in June, 1833, propos- 
ing at the outset to extend his tour as far eastward as Portland. 
The Governor of Maine ordered that, on his arrival at the western 
boundary of the State, he should be received by a company of cav- 
alry from the first division of the Maine Militia, by whom he should 
be escorted as far as Kennebunk, where he should be received 
under a salute fired by the Kennebunk Artillery Company, and 
where the first division escort should be relieved by a company from 
the fifth division, by whom he should be escorted to Portland. A 
committee was raised, at a meeting of the citizens of Kennebunk, 
to invite the President, in their behalf, to tarry as long in our village 
as circumstances would permit; it was also voted, at the same meet- 
ing, that a cavalcade of citizens, on horseback, should receive the 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 473 

President at Cole's Corner. The above-named committee was 
informed, on the thirtieth of June, in a letter from Concord, N. H., 
that in consequence of fatigue and ill health the President had 
determined to return, from that place, to the seat of government on 
the following day. He did not, therefore, visit Maine. He reached 
Washington on the morning of the Fourth of July much improved 
in health. 

York Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. 

The York Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was consecrated 
in this town, and its officers installed in ample and ancient form, on 
Thursday, August 25, 181 4, by the Most Worthy Grand Master, 
Benjamin Russell (editor of the Boston Cefitifid), assisted by a dep- 
utation from the Most Worthy Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The 
committee of arrangements "tender to the inhabitants of Kenne- 
bunk their grateful acknowledgments for their many civilities and 
polite attentions previous to and at their consecration and installa- 
tion"; to the choir of musicians for excellent music and to the 
ladies who assisted in decorating the lodge room and dining room 
special thanks were given. After dinner the following toast was 
received from Worthy Grand Master Russell, which was gladly 
greeted: "The Town of Wells, its Citizens, the Reverend Clergy, 
the Ladies and the Masons; may her prosperity equal the patriot- 
ism of the first, the piety of the second, the beauty of the third and 
the fidelity of the fourth.'" We have looked in vain for a remark in 
reference to the oration. It is not even alluded to. Did " Brother 
Greenleaf " embrace in his oration some strictures on the doctrinal 
views of the members of the Second Parish which he afterward, by 
another method, took occasion to reprehend ? The oration was 
duly noticed, however, on the records of the lodge. 

St. John's Day, June 24, 1827, was celebrated in an appropriate 
manner by York Lodge. A procession was formed at Towle's 
Hotel, at eleven A. m., which proceeded to the meeting-house, where 
prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Fletcher and an oration pronounced 
by Dr. Samuel Emerson. The various exercises at the church hav- 
ing been completed, the procession was re-formed and returned to 
the hotel, where an excellent dinner had been provided, to which 
the large company who sat down to the tables did ample justice. 
The attendance of Masons and citizens was very large; the oration 
"was written in a neat, comprehensive and elegant style," and all 
the proceedings of the day were of a most gratifying character. 



474 history of kennebunk. 

Military Reviews. 

The annual military review and inspection of the fourth regi- 
ment of the first brigade and first division of the Maine Militia took 
place on the old "training field," nearly opposite the road leading 
to the saw-mill at the Eastern Depot, the twenty-third of September, 
1826. The various evolutions of the soldiers were creditably per- 
formed, under the inspection of Brig. Gen. John W. Bodwell and 
Col. Jesse L. Smith. Public interest in these reviews was now evi- 
dently on the wane. Although the day was fine, the number of 
spectators was not large, and those who were present manifested 
little of the old-time enthusiasm that marked such occasions. 

The Gazette notices the annual military review which occurred 
on the twenty-eighth of September, 1827, and closes the article as 
follows : " Fortunately for the training-going folks the day was 
clear and delightful and no accidents happened. A few knock- 
downs and not a few tumble-downs took place, — nothing wonderful, 
however, for general muster." 

The fourth regiment paraded for review at the "old training 
field" on the first day of October, 1830. The brigadier general 
being absent, Col. A. F. Symands and Maj. William Bourne, both 
of Wells, were the chief officers of the day. The Gazette says of the 
companies belonging to the village : "The elegant appearance and 
superior discipline of the Kennebunk Artillery Company, com- 
manded by Captain Kingsbury, and the uniform dress and fine 
conduct of the Militia Company, under the command of Capt. B. 
Littlefield, were subjects of general remark and were alike honor- 
able to the officers and the privates." Through the exertions of 
Colonel Symands and Major Bourne, the customary demoralizing 
scenes witnessed at these reviews were greatly diminished in com- 
parison with former years. There were not more than five tents 
and no gambling apparatus was to be seen on the ground; but few 
females were present ; intoxicating drinks were not openly vended. 
Instances of intoxication were frequent, but very much less in num- 
ber than on similar occasions in time past. The troops were dis- 
missed at an early hour in the afternoon, and the field and its 
vicinity were soon thereafter cleared of tents, spectators and troops. 

On the seventh of October, 1831, Major General Waterman 
reviewed the troops comprising the fourth regiment at the parade 
ground in Wells, between Little River and Cole's Corner. The 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 475 

Artillery Company and one other failed to appear, both companies 
being destitute of officers. The spectators were not numerous. 

Fourth of July Celebrations. 
A large number of the ladies and gentlemen of Kennebunk and 
Kennebunkport celebrated the Fourth of July, 1820, by a sail on 
board of a coasting vessel that had been nicely fitted up for the 
occasion. "After enjoying a few hours on old Neptune's bosom, 
the company landed on Kennebunk Point (Lord's Point), where 
they partook of a sumptuous dinner." Every event of the day was 
calculated to afford gratification to the members of the party. 

The Fourth of July, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was celebrated by the citizens of our town 
in a spirited and appropriate manner. The bell was rung, a national 
salute of thirteen guns was fired at sunrise and noon and of twenty- 
four guns at sunset. A large procession, preceded by a company 
of twenty-four boys and the same number of girls wearing 
badges on which were inscribed the names of the several States of 
the Union, proceeded from Major Frost's Hotel to the meeting- 
house, where the following programme was rendered : Prayer, by 
Rev. Mr. Fletcher; Reading of the Declaration of Independence, by 
Joseph Dane ; Oration, by William S. Emerson, which was spoken 
of by the Gazette as "elegant, chaste and classical"; an original 
hymn, an ode, etc. At the close of the exercises the procession 
again formed, returning to Frost's Hotel, where an excellent dinner 
was provided by the Major, of which about one hundred and twenty 
of the citizens of Kennebunk and guests from neighboring towns 
partook. The after-dinner toasts were many and appropriate. We 
append a few. 

The tenth regular toast was as follows: "The ship Congress, 
last spoken in the latitude of Washington, engaged in a war of 
words, with the flag nailed to the mast." 

We select a few from the volunteer sentiments : 
By Hugh McCulioch, "The citizens of Kennebunk, Kenne- 
bunkport and Wells; may the harmony and friendship which has 
so long existed between them be as perpetual as the streams that 
separate them." 

By Robert Waterston, of Boston. "The tree of Liberty, planted 
by the Pilgrims and more deeply rooted by the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence; may its branches encircle the world." 



476 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

By Joseph Smith, of Dover, N. H. " The citizens of the flour- 
ishing village of Kennebunk; if they are not happy it must be their 
own fault." 

By John Ross. "The farmers of Maine; he who puts his hand 
to the plow should never look back." 

By Doctor Fisher. "A soldier — honored in war, neglected in 
peace." Doctor Fisher was seated at the head of the second table 
and Major Cousens, a veteran of the Revolution, between eighty 
and ninety years of age, was at his right. When the Doctor was 
called on for a toast he desired the Major to rise, then putting his 
right hand on the Major's hoary head he said : "The sentiment of 
my toast is not applicable to the present occasion, but it will gener- 
ally apply to all countries and all times." 

The Gazette of the twenty-eighth of June, 1828, contained the 
following: " 'Coming events cast their shadows before.' Notice is 
hereby given that on the 4th of July good refreshments will be fur- 
nished on Gooch's Beach for the accommodation of those who may 
visit that agreeable resort. Pleasure boats will also be provided 
for those who wish to make an excursion on the water." We think 
that this is the first time that such an excursion was publicly 
advertised. 

Centennial Celekraiion. 

The citizens of Kennebunk resolved to celebrate in an appro- 
priate manner the one hundredth anniversary of our nation's birth. 
It had been fifty years since there had been, in this town, a citizens' 
celebration of this eventful day. In pursuance of this resolution, 
preliminary meetings were held for the consideration of the subject, 
which resulted in the selection of a large committee, composed of 
gentlemen from each of the several school districts into which the 
town is divided, to which was assigned the work of making all the 
necessary arrangements. This committee labored zealously, in per- 
fect harmony and with a satisfactory result. The people throughout 
the town contributed liberally and cheerfully in aid of the object, 
and a sum was readily raised sufficiently large to warrant the issuing 
of a programme, broad and creditable, embracing all the customary 
out-of-door displays and such indoor exercises as the proper observ- 
ance of this important anniversary seemed to require. 

The bells were rung thirty minutes morning, noon and at sun- 
set, and salutes of thirteen guns were fired while they were ringing. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 477 

Flags were displayed from the liberty poles, from public buildings 
and from a number of private buildings. 

In the Town Hall, during the day, were showcases containing 
many relics of the eighteenth century, among which were the " Baxter 
Bible," so-called, which was taken by a party of Indians, in 1726, 
from the dwelling-house of Philip Durrell, in Kennebunkport, whose 
daughter married a Mr. Baxter, and who with her husband and 
children formed a part of the Durrell family; it had been carefully 
preserved; a copy of the "Bay Psalm Book," the first book of 
importance printed in this country (about 1640); a chafing dish 
taken from Burgoyne's tent, at Saratoga, in 1777 ; a commission 
signed by Governor Pownall, of Massachusetts, in 1759, conferring 
on the appointee the office of second lieutenant in a company of 
foot in Colonel Willard's regiment; valuation lists made by the 
assessors of Wells during and prior to the Revolution, and other 
less valuable relics of "ye olden time." 

Joseph Dane was president of the day, by whom Joseph Tit- 
comb was appointed an assistant. 

At half-past nine in the morning the exercises commenced in 
the Town Hall, which was "filled to overflowing." Mr. Titcomb 
presided over the assemblage. The overflow, which, however, was 
not large, repaired to the First Parish Church, where the exercises 
that had taken place in the Town Hall were repeated. Mr. Dane 
presided over the gathering here. The exercises in the hall and 
church were as follows: Music; Opening Address, by the presiding 
officer; Prayer, by Rev. Walter E. Darling; Reading of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, by Miss Ida E. Wormwood; Historical 
Address, by Daniel Remich; Short Addresses — by Rev. Edmund 
Worth, "Reminiscences of the Revolution, the Causes that led to 
it"; by Rev. Charles C. Vinal, "Brief Sketches of the Churches in 
Kennebunk from 1749 to 1820"; by Andrew Walker, "Kennebunk 
Village as it was in 1790." Miss Elizabeth W. Hatch composed the 
words of a hymn that was sung on this occasion. 

At the close of the exercises in the hall and church, a Centen- 
nial Tree was planted in the vacant space opposite the First Parish 
Church, when a few pertinent remarks were made by Joseph Tit- 
comb. The tree was later enclosed with stone posts and an iron rail. 

About noon a procession was formed, near the Town Hall, 
under the direction of Col. James M. Stone, chief marshal of the 
day, consisting of the band, the officers of the town, Mousam Lodge, 



478 HISJORY OF KENNEBLJNK. 

Independent Order of Odd Fellows, school children and citizens, 
which proceeded to the field known in bygone years as "Barnard's 
Pasture," where a large tent had been put up, furnished with dinner 
tables, seats, etc., where an excellent picnic collation had been 
provided. (This field, dating from the celebration, has been called 
"Centennial Hill." It has since been built upon.) 

A gentle breeze from the southwest prevailed during the fore- 
noon, rendering the temperature bland and enjoyable; after noon, 
however, the breeze freshened and at intervals was uncomfortably 
strong. The dinner had been disposed of and preparations were 
making for post prandial speeches, when bellying canvas and creak- 
ing poles led the inmates of the tent to look around uneasily. The 
suspense was momentary; another gust prostrated a part of the 
structure and produced a general stampede of those prepared to 
give utterance to patriotic words and of those prepared to listen to 
them. No one was hurt, and a merry company left the "tented 
field" from which they had been so summarily dismissed by Old 
Boreas. 

We wish that we could here close the account of the day's pro- 
ceedings, but a sad tale remains to be told. While engaged in 
firing the noon salute one of the gunners, Jesse H. Webster, was 
instantly killed by the premature discharge of the cannon. Webster 
was a native of this town, son of Charles H. Webster, and he left a 
widow and five children. He was forty years of age at the time of 
his death. His father, mother, wife and one or more of his children 
were in the village when the accident occurred. The deep sorrow 
of the afflicted ones on hearing of their bereavement cannot be 
imagined. Many among the spectators wept with the stricken ones; 
all were sincere sympathizers. The day's exercises were completed 
according to the programme, but this distressing occurrence cast a 
gloom over the remainder of the proceedings, as it could not well 
be eradicated from the minds of the citizens, causing universally a 
depression of spirits incompatible with boisterous hilarity or hearty 
enjoyment. 

Webster was a faithful soldier in our Civil War, The Grand 
Army Post of this town honored his memory by calling it "Webster 
Post" and "Webster Relief Corps," a ladies' association connected 
with the Post. 



CHAPTER XV. 



On the eleventh day of November, 1647, Governor Winthrop, 
of Massachusetts, gave his official sanction to a measure the worth 
of which no man of that day could better estimate, though no esti- 
mate of that day could approach a just conception of its beneficent 
issues, as later time has revealed them. Not a word of such legisla- 
tion as the following must be withheld from the reader. Since the 
seventeenth year of Massachusetts, no child of hers has been able 
to say that to him poverty has closed the book of knowledge or the 
way to honor. 

"It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep 
men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by 
keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times by 
persuading from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sense 
and meaning of the original might be clouded by false glasses of 
saint-seeming deceivers; that learning may not be buried in the 
grave of our fathers in the church and commonwealth, the Lord 
assisting our endeavors, — 

"It is therefore ordered [by the General Court] that every 
township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to 
the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one 
within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to 
write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or 
masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way 
of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of 
the town shall appoint ; provided those that send their children be 
not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught 
for in other towns. And it is further ordered that when any town shall 
increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, 
they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able 
to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the University; 
provided, that if any town neglect the performance hereof above one 

479 



480 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

year, that every such town shall pay five pounds to the next school 
till they shall perform this order." ^ 

The foregoing extract, we feel assured, will be read with inter- 
est, and will be considered a fitting introduction to the continuation 
of our history of the public schools in this town. We have already 
spoken of the difficulties that embarrassed the early settlers on the 
east side of Little River while endeavoring to obtain the educational 
advantages for their children to which they were justly entitled and 
from which they were a long time debarred. 

If correctly recorded by the clerk, the town passed a unique 
vote, on the fifteenth of March, 1762, in regard to the schools, which 
were to be kept "two years near the center of population, then one 
year in Kennebunk Parish, then one year at Maryland, and then 
one year at Ogunquit, Harriseeket and the Branch." It was, how- 
ever, entirely disregarded, and the annual appropriation for schools 
from 1762 to 1767 was divided as it had been in previous years. In 
1767 the Second Parish was allowed to draw from the treasury one- 
fifth of the school money raised by the town for the ensuing year ; 
twelve pounds were voted to it for 1769-70, and for 1770-71 its 
proportion of sixty pounds according to the rates paid thereby. 

There was no schoolhouse in Kennebunk until 1770. Prior to 
that date schools were kept in private houses, and probably for sev- 
eral years later, in neighborhoods remote from the seaboard, before 
their population would warrant the formation of districts or the 
erection of schoolhouses for the better accommodation of their chil 
dren. In 1741 a school was kept for four months at the dwelling- 
house of James Wakefield, at the Landing, and for ten years there- 
after at the same place for a longer or shorter period each year. 
From 1 741 to 1748 the schools were in charge of different teachers, 
of whose fitness for the position and of whose success in their voca- 
tion we have no knowledge. In 1748 Rev. Mr, Little was employed 
as teacher, and we have no doubt but that he performed his duties 
intelligently and faithfully ; he taught there for several years. In 
1752, having built a house (afterward owned and occupied by John 
T. Brown), he kept the school in one of its rooms for two or three 
years. When Joseph Storer removed from Wells to Kennebunk, in 

'Palfrey's History of New England, 2d volume, pages 262 and 263. Palfrey 
remarks that "the measure Is all the more impressive for having originated in a 
general voluntary movement of the people In their several settlements." In 1645 
Winthrop writes: "Divers free schools were erected, as at Roxbury." In 1644 
the inhabitants of Dedham, Mass., declared, by a unanimous vote, their willing- 
ness and readiness to provide for the maintenance of a free school, and for this 
purpose made an appropriation of some lands and of twenty pounds annually. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 481 

1757, and engaged extensively, for the time, in the manufacture of 
lumber and in other business, this increased the population in the 
vicinity of the mills and gave to this part of the village an import- 
ance it had not hitherto enjoyed. The Kimball neighborhood was 
also increasing in numbei's and in its industries. It was claimed 
that the schools should be kept in this section of the town a part 
of the time at least. From 1758 to 1764 they were held in the 
Kimball neighborhood, in the carpenter's shop of Edmund Currier, 
which stood near the site of N. W. Wiggin's house and well accom- 
modated the then most populous parts of the town. 

For the eight years succeeding 1757 we rely wholly upon tradi- 
tion for all the information we have respecting the schools, — such 
indefinite statements, by elderly people, as " I heard my grandfather 
or grandmother say," etc. We think, however, that the narrative 
in the text is very nearly correct. 

In 1764 the Alewive road first attained the dignity of being 
"the road on which the school is kept." It was kept there continu- 
ously until 1770. That the school was held in a structure built of 
logs appears to be undisputed, but reports respecting its location 
and finish do not so well harmonize. Judge Bourne — doubtless on 
the authority of a tradition that appeared to be entitled to full credit 
— locates it "just above the house of Storer" (it was no more than 
an eighth of a mile above it) and describes it as about six feet high 
and open at the gable ends, and also states that " the only way of 
entering was by climbing up on a stile at the end and jumping 
down into the house." This leaves us in some perplexity as to the 
manner in which the pupils got out of the place ; they jumped down 
six feet to get in and it would seem that there was no stile on the 
inside, so that their egress must have been accomplished by some 
"tall climbing" or by a resort to the "boosting process." An aged 
citizen, who had his information from Reuben Hatch, who built a 
house near the site of the present dwelling-house of Ivory Lord in 
1760 or '61, stated to the author that this log building was a sheep 
pen erected by Hatch and built in the style common in the early 
days of the settlement, the entrance to which was through a small 
opening at one end, about three feet square, that to gain admittance 
it was necessary to step over two logs, about nine inches each in 
diameter. Blocks of wood probably were utilized for benches. 
And thus it was that while the sheep were enjoying their summer 
vacation their home was occupied by juveniles in pursuit of useful 
knowledge. 



482 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

After the organization of the Second Parish, in 1750, the select- 
men of Wells made it the custodian of its proportion of the school 
money, with full power to expend it in such manner as might be 
deemed most advisable, in fact, giving to the parish the entire con- 
trol of the schools within its precinct. All matters affecting this 
important trust were, therefore, debated and determined at the 
parish meetings, and its assessors, or such committee or committees 
as it might appoint for the purpose, were authorized to carry out all 
votes in reference to this subject which were, from time to time, 
adopted at these meetings. In pursuance of the authority thus 
delegated to it, the Second Parish, not long after its organization, 
divided its territory into four school districts: No. i, from Joseph 
Storer's house to Towne's Bridge ; No. 2, all below, between the rivers 
to the sea; No. 3, "Alwive village"; No. 4, from Storer's house, on 
both sides of the Mousam, to the sea. 

It appears from its records that the parish manifested com- 
mendable interest in the schools and that all its measures respecting 
them evinced sound discretion and an earnest desire that the educa- 
tion of their children should be especially cared for. Under the 
authority delegated to it by the selectmen, the territory had been 
divided into parochial districts, as above stated, several years before 
the town had taken any decided action to this end, and had made 
such provision in regard to the distribution ot the school money as 
would, as far as practicable, secure equal advantages to all the 
children. In April, 1779, and again in April, 1780, the town voted 
that the selectmen divide the town into school districts and that 
they appoint a committee in each district to engage a suitable 
schoolmaster and receive the proportion of the money belonging to 
each district, such committee to be accountable for the expenditure 
thereof. The performance of the duties assigned to the selectmen 
by this vote was long delayed, about thirty years. 

When we call to mind the sparseness of the population and the 
limited pecuniary means of that population a century ago, as well 
as the many little trials and perplexities to which they must neces- 
sarily have been subjected, and then glance at the abundant means 
and countless facilities enjoyed by our people to-day for the support 
and successful operation of institutions of learning, it must be 
admitted that our fathers were in no respect behind the present 
generation in solicitude for the educational welfare of the young or 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 483 

in readiness liberally to contribute in aid of an object which they 
felt to be deserving of their fostering care. "They did what they 
could." 

In 1790 the town elected a "committee for visiting schools," 
consisting of John Wheelwright, Nathaniel Wells, Benjamin Brown, 
Nathaniel Cousens, Benjamin Titcomb and John Storer. This is 
the first record we find of the election of such a committee by the 
town. 

Considerably more than one hundred years ago the parish 
erected the first schoolhouse within its territorial limits. It was 
located a few rods east of James Hubbard's (now John Ward's) 
dwelling-house and opposite his field, very near the spot where 
stands the guide board that shows the way to Boothby's Beach. 
We presume that children from all parts of the parish were entitled 
to seats within its walls, although its position favors the supposition 
that it was designed to accommodate the children of residents in 
the village and on the seaboard, hence the title by which it was 
known for a generation, "the Mousam Schoolhouse." By "the vil- 
lage" we mean the inhabitants then living (1770) on the territory 
now known as the village and as the Bartlett's Mills neighborhood; 
it was about midway between these and the inhabitants at the Land- 
ing (on the Kennebunk River) and the Larrabee settlement (on the 
Mousam). A more eligible site for the building could not, at the 
time, have been selected. It stood there many years, too many it 
would seem, if we take into consideration the harmony of the vici- 
nage. Several years before the close of the eighteenth century the 
Landing district had so increased in population that it was found 
necessary to erect a schoolhouse there, which stood twenty rods 
southwest of the county road and on the east side of the road to 
the Port by way of Titcomb's and Towne's. There had been, in 
the meantime, quite an increase of settlers on the territory destined 
to become the principal village in the town, so that the school near 
Hubbard's was no longer centrally situated, and it was proposed to 
move it nearer to the church (the Unitarian Church now standing). 
The proposition, however, did not prove acceptable to the majority 
of those in whom the power was vested. We have no record that 
furnishes the details of the controversy that grew out of these 
discordant views, the first volume of the records of the fifth school 
district having been destroyed, it is alleged, in the fire by which the 
buildings on the corner of Main and Fletcher Streets were con- 
sumed in 1866. We do know that in 1797 several gentlemen, viz., 



484 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Samuel Emerson, Jacob Fisher, Jonas Clark, Joseph Moody, Joseph 
Barnard and Major Jefferds, purchased of Joseph Storer, for the 
sum of ten dollars, the small lot of land on which "the old school- 
house" stands and which that structure very nearly covers, adjoin- 
ing the meeting-house lot; that thereupon they erected the building 
for "school purposes"; that about the time of these proceedings 
the parish schoolhouse was moved from the "corner" to a lot on 
Saco road, a few rods east of the meeting-house and about opposite 
the site of the Methodist Church ; that not long after this the then 
old schoolhouse was sold and removed^ and the new building 
became and has to this day continued to be a "district school- 
house," referred to in legal documents as "the schoolhouse in the 
parish yard." 

The old building has passed through many changes, so that 
now nothing remains of the original structure excepting the frame 
and the boarding. Persons who attended school there from 1800 to 
1820 have described its interior, at that remote period, as arranged 
for two schoolrooms, say one-fourth of it partitioned for a "woman's 
or summer school," with a door at the western end for the ingress 
and egress of pupils and others, and furnished with common 
benches ; to this room and its privileges children from four to ten 
years of age were admitted. The larger part, where was kept the 
" man's or winter school," was finished in the old style, — a fireplace 
of huge dimensions, a brick hearth covering the entire space between 
the chimney and the lower tier of seats, the teacher's desk, high and 
roomy, reached by steps, on the northern side, so located as to 
enable that personage to enjoy a full and unobstructed view of every 
part of his realm. On this was kept a small box containing "copper- 
plate copies" for the larger scholars, by one of whom it was daily 
"passed round" to the members of his class, so that each one could 
select a copy which he or she regarded as desirable, and which 
copy, under penalty of "discipline," was to be returned to the box, 
untorn and unblotted, as soon as the writing exercises were com- 
pleted; here, too, when not in use, were the writing books of the 
less advanced scholars. At the proper hour the owners were 
expected to go to the desk for their books, in which they 
expected to find a page ruled, a newly written copy and a newly 
made or mended quill pen ; these were also to be punctually 

^This building was moved to or near the lot now ot-eupied by the dwelling- 
house of William F. Simpson and became the property and the home of the 
widow. Tabltha Hubbard. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 485 

returned. On the front of the desk was posted an aphabetical list 
of the boys belonging to the school, one of whom, as his turn came, 
was expected to build the fire in the morning and care for it 
through the day; a like list of the girls was also posted, three or 
four of whom were expected, as their turns came, to unite in sweep- 
ing and dusting the schoolroom Saturday afternoon. On the 
northern side of the chimney was a large closet, used for the double 
purpose of storing wood and of shutting up, temporarily, scholars 
that were regarded as refractory, or for some other cause considered 
deserving the dark regimen; over this closet was a flooring or plat- 
form on which were a bench and desk that would accommodate at 
least half a dozen pupils; these, however, were used only when 
every other part of the room was crowded, and then by the larger 
scholars. On this platform, once in two v/eeks (the bench and 
desk having been moved back), the boys were required to declaim. 
" You'd scarce expect one of my age," " Pity the sorrows of a poor 
old man," "My name is Norvall, on the Grampian hills," "My 
voice is still for war. Gods! Can a Roman Senate long debate," 
and many other selections in poetry and prose, pathetic, patriotic, 
impassioned, etc., were spoken from this rostrum with more or less 
propriety and power. On the floor, which was so laid that there 
was a gradual ascent from the hearth to the eastern end of the 
room, were old-style benches and desks, with narrow aisles between, 
sufficient in number to seat comfortably seventy pupils, but which, 
with the addition of boards from seat to seat across the aisles and 
putting the smaller children into snug quarters, were frequently 
made to furnish accommodations, so styled, for from ninety to one 
hundred scholars, from ten to twenty-one years of age. It could not 
be expected that under these circumstances much progress in learn- 
ing would be made. We think that the larger boys, apprentices and 
others, who could not attend more than a month or two or three 
months in the year, and whose chief studies were writing and arith- 
metic, received the greater share of the teacher's attention. The 
instructor of the winter school frequently kept one or two terms 
during the warm season, "in the man's part," but this did not 
benefit a large number of the children, whose parents could not or 
would not pay their tuition, and who, between the demands of the 
larger pupils in the winter and their exclusion, on account of age, 
from the schools in the summer, were slightly benefited by the 
scanty educational privileges within their reach. This unfavorable 
state of things led to the maintenance, by a number of parents, of a 



486 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

private school throughout the year, which was taught in Washington 
Hall, in the Frost building (near the Grant house), and temporarily 
in the district schoolhouse when not in use. Other rooms in the 
village were also improved, at different times, by John Skeele, 
Aaron Greene, Stephen Farley, Edwin Piper and others. This 
movement not only greatly benefited the children of its patrons, but 
largely increased the efficiency of the public school by lessening 
the number of its pupils. Improvements were gradually made in 
the old schoolhouse. The closet with the overhead platform was 
removed, the immense chimney replaced by one of smaller dimen- 
sions, the room was heated by a large box stove instead of an open 
fireplace, the broad brick hearth was taken up and a wooden floor 
substituted, the platform and teacher's desk were taken away; all 
these changes afforded space for a more commodious wood room, 
for dressing rooms, a teacher's desk more in accordance with the 
style of the day and two additional tiers of seats. Then came the 
removal of the partition, the closing up of the western entrance, the 
leveling of the floor, the enlargement of the windows and a ventilator. 
Afterward a term of the man's school was kept in the summer, and 
the woman's school was kept in a small building in the rear of the 
"Cobby store," and a mixed school on the west side of the river, in 
a small building at the corner of York and Friend Streets, which 
now forms a part of a very neat dwelling-house that stands there. 

We are unable to state the precise date when the first school- 
house at the Landing was removed or torn down. It was the 
schoolhouse in 1820 and perhaps a few years later. The brick 
schoolhouse, opposite the shipyards, had been erected when the old 
one was abandoned. Its interior was remodeled somewhat and 
considerably improved in 1S60. In 1887 it was found to be dilapi- 
dated and "behind the times" in many particulars, and it was taken 
down. A new wooden building, neat in its outside appearance, its 
interior finished and furnished in modern style, was erected several 
feet in the rear of the site of that which had been demolished. 

In 1792 the Landing district was divided, "Lake Brook" being 
the divisional line. It is probable that the " Pine district," or No. 
3, was organized about this date, and a schoolhouse built in the 
grove of pines on the east side of the road, a short distance below 
Butland's. In 1861 this building was abandoned and a new one 
was erected — a very neat and convenient structure — on an eligible 
site, a short distance below that of the old one. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 487 

There is no record or tradition that afifords ground for belief 
that there was a schoolhouse in the Port district until about 1820. 
There must have been schools there at a much earlier date, which 
were probably kept in rooms hired for the purpose. The first 
schoolhouse had been used as such on the Kennebunk side of the 
river; it was originally designed for a fish house, for which purpose 
it was used a while, and then was metamorphosed into a house 
appropriated to the instruction of youth. It was purchased by the 
Port district, or No. i, drawn across the bridge and located near 
the site of John A, Emery's store. It was again moved, between 
the years 185 1 and '54, to the spot where it now stands. It was 
enlarged in 1856 so as to accommodate two schools at the same 
time, and the old part was furnished with a sufficient number of 
Shattuck's desks and chairs to accommodate fifty-six pupils. The 
schools in this district were graded in 1862 — three grades, advanced, 
intermediate and primary — a much needed improvement. 

District No. 6 was established in 1803 and it is probable that 
the first schoolhouse was erected and partially finished the same 
year. It stood near where Mrs. Lancy Littlefield's dwelling-house 
stands. For some reason, now lost to the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant, this building was sold a few years later and purchased 
by the Misses Hill. It was moved to Fletcher Street and subse- 
quently became the property of John Mitchell. The district built 
another schoolhouse, about half a mile northeast of the location of 
the first, on the road from Ross's to the Shackley place. For sev- 
eral years summer and winter schools were kept there. The district 
was small, the scholars few in number and the school terms very 
short. We have listened to readings and recitations in that room, 
however, which would be creditable to any school of the same grade 
in town or city, and it would be hard to find, even at this day, 
teachers better qualified to teach mixed schools than the Misses 
Larrabee, who were among the instructors employed here. The 
population of the district gradually diminished, and the school 
money appropriated for it would pay for only one short term annu- 
ally. Later an arrangement was made by which the children in this 
district attended the schools in No. 5, the compensation of the latter 
being the amount of money annually apportioned to the former. 
At the annual town meeting in 187 1 the district was united with 
No. 5. The old No. 6 schoolhouse was shortly thereafter sold and 
removed, the town receiving neither schoolhouse nor lot from the 
district. 



488 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 

In April, 1804, the town by vote set off certain inhabitants 
within the boundaries named therein, in the Second Parish, as a 
"separate school district, by the name of the Center Kennebunk 
School District." The present District No. '5 includes all territory 
designated in this vote. 

It was voted in October, 1805, that "Cole's School District, 
so-called, shall extend from the Doctor's Bridge,^ so-called, to John 
Clark's," to Col. Henry Hart's and to Nathan Wells's." In May, 
1810, the petition of Nathan, Joseph and William Wells, Thomas 
Fernald, John and Samuel Bragdon, Abner, William and William 
Wormwood, Jr., praying to be set off and formed into a separate 
school district, was granted. Accordingly " District No. 4 " was 
organized and a year or two later a schoolhouse was built on the 
corner of the highway and the lane then leading by Wormwood's to 
the river. In 1856 the district very wisely decided to build a new 
schoolhouse, which was well located, a short distance seaward from 
the site of the old one, sufficiently large to accommodate twenty-four 
scholars and provided with Shattuck's furniture. The population 
of this district has changed materially within the last thirty years. 
The number of children within its bounds between the ages of four 
and twenty-one years has become so small that the amount of school 
money to which, by law, it was entitled has been only sufficient to 
support a school a few weeks in the year. The district still main- 
tains its organization, hoping for "better things in time to come," 
but the children therein attend the village schools, and for compen- 
sation the district annually pays to the agent of No. 5 the amount of 
school money apportioned to it by the municipal officers of the town. 

In April, 181 1, the selectmen reported that they had divided 
the First and Second Parishes of the town into school districts. 
Their report was read, amended somewhat, and its further consid- 
eration postponed until a later date. At the annual meeting in 
April, 18 12, it was not taken up for want of time. At an adjourned 
meeting held the following month it was discussed and after several 
amendments it was accepted and adopted. The First Parish was 
divided into sixteen districts. The Second Parish was divided into 
ten districts. The first, second, third and fourth did not materially 
differ, territorially, from the present arrangement; the fifth and 
sixth were made up chiefly of the territory included in the fifth or 

'Near Wells " Corner " and the residence of the late Dr. Joseph Qilman. 
-The site of the summer residence of George O. Lord, ex-president of the 
Boston & Maine Railroad. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 489 

village district before the annexation of the sixth ; the present ninth 
(West Kennebunk) and eleventh (Cat Mousam) districts formed a 
single district, while the eighth, ninth and tenth were very nearly 
within the limits now occupied by the sixth (before its annexation 
to the fifth), the seventh and the eighth. When the division of the 
parish (under this action of the town) had been completed, the cus- 
todianship of the schools was no longer vested in its officers. When 
this division was made and the organization of the several districts 
perfected we are unable to state, nor have we any means of ascer- 
taining the precise dates when schoolhouses were erected in the 
several districts. 

District No. lo (Plains) was not established as a separate dis- 
trict until 1812, when it was called No. 6 in the selectmen's report. 
It is probable that the schoolhouse which stood on the east side of 
the road, a short distance north of the late Joshua Treadwell's resi- 
dence, was built about that time. This schoolhouse was taken down 
in 1859 ^""^ ^ "^^ °"^ erected, on the west side of the road, which 
is still standing. 

The districts now known as No. 11 and No. 12 appear to have 
been embraced within the limits of the fifth, or village, in the divis- 
ion made by the selectmen in 1812. In 1822, when the town was 
again divided into districts, these districts were established. No. 11 
being known as "Cat Mousam" and No. 12 as "Day's." We 
cannot learn when the old schoolhouse, on the western bank of the 
river, was erected; perhaps not before 1822. There must have been 
a school in this district before that date, which was probably kept 
in a private house. The old schoolhouse was burned about 1849, 
and that now standing, on a different location, was erected a year 
or two later. Probably the schoolhouse in Day's District was built 
prior to 1825. Nos. 11 and 12 are adjoining districts. The agents 
frequently so arranged the commencement and close of the school 
terms in their respective districts as to enable the children to attend 
both schools. It was a judicious arrangement, mutually beneficial by 
considerably enhancing the educational privileges of those residing 
therein. Years ago the only obstacle to the union of these districts 
appeared to be the lack of a road which would shorten the distance 
between their territorial limits. That road has since been built. 

District No. 9 (West Kennebunk) was established about 1850. 
The children on the territory comprised within its limits had up to 
this time attended school on the west side of the river (now No. 11). 
The first schoolhouse was no more than an ordinary structure, 



490 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

which, a few years after it had been built, was found to be inade- 
quate to the wants of the district, which was fast increasing in 
population and business prosperity. It was made to " answer its 
purpose," however, until 1873, when a new house was erected. 
The interior was divided into two rooms, designed to accommodate 
the advanced and primary schools respectively, which were well fin- 
ished and furnished; its exterior is very neat. The site is a fine 
one, affording an ample playground, a valuable adjunct, and giving 
to the building a somewhat imposing appearance. 

Union Academy. 

An act of incorporation was granted to the trustees of Union 
Academy, in Kennebunk, by the Maine Legislature of 1834. This 
seminary was under the auspices of the Calvinist Baptist Associa- 
tions of York and Cumberland Counties, but the citizens of Kenne- 
bunk, of all religious denominations, cheerfully and liberally 
contributed toward the erection of the building and the furnishing 
of apparatus needed for the successful operation of the school. The 
academy building was situated on the lot now owned by the village 
school district, a little farther back from the street than where the 
high schoolhouse now stands. The cost of the lot and building was 
about twenty-five hundred dollars. It was the intention of the pro- 
jectors of the institution that it should maintain a high rank among 
the academic schools of the time. 

The following is an extract from a communication in Zion's 
Herald, written by one of its trustees: "The building for the 
accommodation of this seminary is located on an eminence east of 
the thicket of dwelling-houses, — sufficiently retired for purposes of 
study and yet sufficiently near the dense population to accommodate 
students boarding in any part of the village. The building presents 
a fine front toward the principal thoroughfare through the town. 
The lower story affords two well-arranged rooms, one intended for 
the male and the other for female students. In the upper story is 
a spacious hall, with apartments for a library, philosophical appa- 
ratus, etc. The trustees are assured that board in respectable fam- 
ilies shall be furnished at an expense not exceeding one dollar and 
fifty cents per week, including washing. Tuition, from three to 
five dollars." 

The seminary was opened for the admission of students on 
Wednesday, December 10, 1834. The exercises on this occasion 
were: i. Hymn; 2, Prayer by Rev. Mr. Wells (Unitarian); 3, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



491 



Address by Rev. Mr. Hague, of Boston; 4, Prayer by Rev. Mr. 
Powers (Orthodox); 5, Doxology; 6, Benediction by Mr. Hague. 
The hall was filled to overflowing. Between sixty and seventy stu- 
dents had been enrolled previous to and on that day, which number 
was increased to seventy-two before the close of the first month of 
the term. Carleton Parker, from Massachusetts, was the principal, 
Moses M. Burbank, assistant, and George Knox, assistant pupil. 

The second term commenced with eighty pupils and was suc- 
cessfully conducted by Mr. Parker and his assistants. The third 
term was under the care of Mr. Parker, Mr. Burbank and Miss 
Ruth S. Robinson. The trustees, in the course of a favorable 
report of the examination at the close of this term, thus speak of 
our village: "Kennebunk is considered to be one of the most 
pleasant and healthiest villages in New England." 

During the first year of its existence the academy was attended 
by quite a number of pupils from abroad, the sons or daughters of 
persons strongly interested in the success of this denominational 
movement, several of whom were from cities and towns where excel- 
lent schools were maintained. These generally withdrew from the 
academy at the close of the fall term, not in consequence of any 
dissatisfaction but because, having aided the institution at the start 
and feeling assured that it was established on a firm basis, they pre- 
ferred that their children should attend the schools and academies 
nearer their respective homes. The prospects of the academy were 
not so bright, although by no means discouraging, at the commence- 
ment of the second year as they had been up to that time. Whether 
for this or other reasons, Messrs. Parker and Burbank and Miss 
Robinson resigned their situations, and the winter term (1835-36) 
was under the instruction of Mr. Bryce M. Patten, who continued 
as principal for nearly a year, when he was compelled by illness to 
procure a substitute for a part of his fourth term, by whom the win- 
ter term was taught. The denominational interest in the institution 
had at this time almost entirely ceased, except in the controlling 
power, which continued to be held where it was originally vested. 
Still it was well patronized by parents and guardians in this town, 
and the adjoining towns were fairly represented by pupils. Hall 
Roberts took charge at the commencement of the spring term, 
March first, 1837. For a few years the school met with fair success, 
but after a time it was considered impracticable to longer continue. 
In 1856 the "academy building" was purchased by the district, 
repaired, remodeled somewhat and furnished with Shattuck's school 



492 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

furniture. The summer term of the "man's school" was in charge 
of Timothy B. Ross, of Ipswich, Mass., a capable and efficient 
teacher. A primary school was kept in the "old schoolhouse" and 
a mixed school on the west side of the river. This year a large and 
commodious building was erected on Swan Street which was de- 
signed for a primary schoolroom on the lower floor ; it was provided 
with the improved furniture and capable of accommodating eighty 
scholars. Action in reference to the finishing and furnishing of the 
room on the upper floor w;is deferred to a future time, when it could 
be better determined when and in what manner it should be com- 
pleted so as best to promote the interests of the district. 

The superintending school committee in their annual report, 
February, 1857, called attention to the subject of grading the schools 
in this district, and in April of the same year the district voted 
thereafter to maintain three schools, two primary and a higher, the 
latter in charge of a mala teacher and the former in charge of 
female teachers ; it also voted to divide the school year into three 
terms, so divided that each school would be in session thirty-eight 
weeks during the year, and, further, to employ the teachers by the 
year at fixed salaries. 

An exhibition was given by the grammar school scholars, under 
the direction of their instructor, at the close of the winter term, 
1857-58. The programme was a good one and it was carried out 
very creditably to scholars and teacher. An admission fee was 
charged, the net proceeds of which were applied to the purchase of 
reference books and philosophical apparatus for the use of the 
school. The exhibition was subsequently repeated (with some 
change in the programme) by the pupils and the net proceeds pre- 
sented by them to Mr. Ross as a token of their respect and esteem 
for him personally, as well as of their high appreciation of his efforts 
in their behalf. 

The superintending school committee in their report, 1857-58, 
call attention to the standing of the public schools in this town as 
exhibited in the statistical tables appended to the annual report of 
the State Superintendent of Common Schools, showing the amount 
raised per scholar by the several towns, the average attendance, etc. 
The exhibit was by no means creditable to the town. The citizens 
were both surprised and chagrined; their attention had not previ- 
ously been called to the subject. They acknowledged the sin of 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 493 

thoughtlessness, but felt that they could not be justly charged with 
intentional neglect of this important public interest. We need only 
add that this exposure was highly beneficial in its effect, and that 
the State Superintendent never thereafter received returns from this 
town from which facts and figures so discreditable could be obtained. 

A public examination of the schools, at the close of the school 
year, was initiated in District No. 5 in 1861, and a year or two later 
in all the public schools in town. 

The superintending school committee in their annual report, 
February, 1867, urged the importance of grading the schools in the 
larger districts. The response by the fifth or village district was 
prompt and practical. At a school meeting held in April following 
it was voted that thereafter the public schools in the district shall 
consist of (i) two primary schools, (2) a grammar school, (3) a 
high school. At this meeting it was also voted to make necessary 
repairs in the room on the lower floor of the academy building for 
the accommodation of the grammar school, and to remodel, finish 
and furnish the room on the upper floor for the use of the high school. 

The grammar school, under the new organization, commenced 
June third, 1867, William H. Mitchell, instructor. Mr. Timothy B. 
Ross, of Ipswich, who had been instructor of the "higher school" 
from the spring of 1856 to the close of the winter term, 1866-67, 
with the exception of a few weeks, resigned his position at the last- 
named date and returned to Ipswich, to take charge of one of the 
schools in that town. Mr. Ross was a competent and faithful 
teacher and a much respected citizen. 

The primary school east of Mousam River commenced April 
twenty-second and was taught by Miss Caroline T. Richards, and 
that west of the river commenced April fifteenth and was taught by 
Miss Isabel M. Ross. The first term of the high school commenced 
September ninth and was in charge of Mr. Albion Burbank, of 
Limerick. 

A more auspicious commencement of the graded system could 
not have been desired, — a corps of excellent teachers, scarcely a 
vacant seat in either of the schoolhouses, and the citizens fully 
appreciating the superior educational advantages now offered to the 
children of the district. 

"An act authorizing the inhabitants of school district number 
five in the town of Kennebunk to raise money for certain purposes" 



494 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and to elect "three superintending school committee men, clerk, 
treasurer, assessors, collector, fire wardens, one or more police offi- 
cers, and such other officers as may be provided for in the by-laws 
of said district," was passed by the Legislature of Maine in 1868. 
An act additional to this, increasing the power of the district some- 
what, was passed by a subsequent Legislature. 

Mr. Mitchell resigned the position of teacher of the grammar 
school at the close of the winter term, 1868-69, "i^ch to the regret 
of all interested in the school. He was succeeded by Joseph H. 
Hill, of Limerick, who proved to be an excellent instructor and who 
continued in charge of the school until the close of the spring term, 
1880, when he resigned, Mr. Hill performed all his duties in the 
station he so long occupied faithfully and well. 

The "academy building," in which the high and grammar 
schools were kept, was destroyed by fire on the evening of the tenth 
of April, 1870. The cause of the fire is unknown. Temporary 
accommodations for the schools thus driven from their quarters 
were provided without delay, and both schools were in operation a 
week later. The inhabitants of the district voted to rebuild the 
schoolhouse at once and raised a sum sufficient for the purpose with 
great unanimity. The new building is of brick ; its exterior appear- 
ance is quite neat; the interior affords commodious, well-finished 
and well-furnished rooms for the high school on the lower floor, and 
rooms equally convenient on the upper floor for the grammar school. 

Mr. Burbank resigned the office of teacher of the high school 
at the close of the winter term, 1871-72, having accepted the posi- 
tion of principal of the Exeter (N. H.) High School, which he 
continues to hold. The fifth district was exceedingly fortunate in 
obtaining the services of Mr. Burbank as the first teacher of its 
high school. During the five years (nearly) that it was under his 
care, from its commencement to the date of his resignation, it was a 
model school. Doubtless others might have been found who would 
have done as well, but it is believed no one could have performed 
the duties devolving on him more intelligently or more satisfactorily. 

The first graduating class, consisting of six pupils (five young 
ladies and one young gentleman), who had honorably completed the 
prescribed course of study, received their diplomas on the evening 
of March i, 1872. The exercises were creditable in the highest 
degree to the members of the class. It may be well here to remark 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 495 

that the several graduation classes since the above named have, 
respectively, in their public exercises, done themselves great credit. 
Of course there have been different degrees of excellence, but it can 
justly be said that all, individually and collectively, have acquitted 
themselves well. We cannot forbear to quote from the Superin- 
tending School Commiltee's Report for 1879-80 the following richly 
merited encomium: "The valedictory, by Miss Susie A. Curtis 
[daughter of H. Fuller Curtis] was remarkable for the evidences it 
presented of scholarly attainments, extensive and careful reading 
and deep thought on the part of the author. It was gracefully 
spoken and was an exceedingly meritorious production." 

District No. 5, at its annual meeting in March, 1873, voted to 
convert the high school into a "free high school," under the pro- 
visions of an act of the Legislature of 1873, "in aid of free high 
schools," under which title it still continues to be known. District 
No. 9, now West Kennebunk, two or three years later availed itself 
of the provisions of the act above named and has up to the present 
time maintained a free high school. 

An intermediate class was added to our school system in Dis- 
trict No. 5 in 1875 ^^^ ^^^ conducted by Miss Luella F. Jordan 
with ability and success. 

The village district at the present writing is well supplied with 
schools: High and Grammar, in the brick building at the foot of 
Dane Street; Eastern Intermediate, in the "old schoolhouse" near 
the Unitarian Church ; Eastern or Central Primary, in the new 
schoolhouse erected in 1884 on Centennial Hill; Western Primary 
and Western Intermediate, in the school building on Swan Street 
on the west side of the Mousam River. 

Our school buildings that have been erected within recent years 
bear evidence that the interests of education have received a g<jod 
share of attention, and the youth of this day, compared with those 
who preceded them, enjoy vastly superior convenience and facilities 
for the acquisition of knowledge. The "old schoolhouse" still 
stands, however, a memorial of other days, not remarkable, certainly, 
because of its architectural beauty, its interior accommodations or 
its cheerful surroundings. This ancient structure has undergone 
many alterations in years gone by. It was again very greatly 
improved in 1880 in its interior arrangement and in being furnished 
with modern seats, etc. This should have been done years before 



496 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

as an act of justice, of humanity even, to the children who were 
compelled to attend school there in a cold, gloomy and inconvenient 
room, and where they acquired knowledge under difficulties. Within 
its walls there have been many excited school meetings, many of 
childhood's innocent pranks as well as many acts of malicious mis- 
chief; the ruler has been applied with vigorous blows and stento- 
rian lungs have given evidence of the suffering inflicted ; here, too, 
opportunities have been neglected and as a consequence manhood 
has been cramped, while on the other hand opportunities of the 
diligent and well behaved have been improved and manhood has 
become intelligent, upright and a blessing to the community. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



The people of Kennebunk as a whole have always been imbued 
with patriotic feeling and have never failed, when exigencies arose, 
to manifest their faith by resolute action in what appeared to them 
to be sound principles. They were faithful to their king until the 
exactions of the mother country became oppressive and tyrannical, 
and then, when justice had been denied, they were loyal to the 
demands of the hour. When the British outrage at Lexington 
aroused the country and the call to arms was borne to them, they 
were prompt in their response and were well represented on the 
battlefields of the War of the Revolution. The resolutions adopted 
at their town meetings breathed the true spirit of true men, and 
are a rich legacy to their descendants. When they returned to 
homes impoverished and farms neglected, with the added trial of a 
depreciated currency, they accepted the situation, hoped for better 
days, and cheerfully gave the contributions of good example and 
diligent industry to aid in the attainment of such a result. Again, 
too, while the War of i8 12 -15, so destructive to their prosperity, 
was being waged, they bated not one jot or tittle in their love of 
country. They had opposed the war strenuously, not, however, by 
any unwarrantable act, but when the news of Hull's brilliant 
achievement in the capture of the Guerriere was received, the Visiter 
informs us, they assembled by a sort of involuntary impulse to con- 
gratulate each other on the event. Every countenance spoke feel- 
ings of national pride and satisfaction, the bell was rung, a sumptu- 
ous collation prepared and patriotic and highly national toasts were 
drunk. 

And later, when our dear "old flag" had been dishonored, and 
the unwelcome tidings reached us that our Southern brethren had 
taken up arms with the avowed determination of severing the 
Union, a very large majority of the citizens of our town were decid- 
edly loyal to the Govenment; they were both astounded and indig- 
nant when the intelligence reached them that the "old flag" had 
been dishonored and a Civil War inaugurated by the South Caroli- 

497 



498 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

nians. who had fired upon Fort Sumter, the holders of which they 
compelled to surrender. Meetings of the citizens were at once 
called to consider the situation and the demands of the hour upon 
them. The feeling was spontaneous that those demands should be 
promptly met, and that the calls of the Government, whether for 
men or money, should command their best efforts to completely 
fulfill their obligations to their country's cause. There was no lack 
of patriotic fire, no delay of decisive action. Intense earnestness 
characterized the period while noble men went forth from among us 
and battled for a noble cause. 

During that dreadfully dark and trying period in our nation's 
history, when the South and the North were arrayed against each 
other in deadly conflict, the gentler sex were laboring in their homes 
in aid of 4he patriotic and heroic men who lay sick or wounded in 
our hospitals or on our battlefields ; for the good work of relieving 
the suffering soldiers was confined to no section, to no party; every- 
where wealth contributed of its abundance, while those of limited 
means were neither stinted nor backward in their offerings. 

The following account of the disbursements of the town, in 
response to calls by the National Government, is compiled from the 
annual town reports. We are indebted to these reports and espe- 
cially to the record kept by Mr. Andrew Walker, — at the request of 
citizens assembled in an informal meeting, — for the names of our 
townsmen and others who enlisted here and of natives or residents 
who joined regiments in this and other states. 

Supplies to families of soldiers, per orders from selectmen, $3,251.95 

State aid to families of soldiers, 3,818.34 



17,070.29 
This amount ($7,070.29) was reimbursed by the State. 

Paid to town officers for labor and expenses, $ 374-92 

Paid to agents for labor and expense enlisting soldiers, 1,208.05 
Bounties paid to soldiers, 151,106.72, less 112,675.04 reimbursed 

by the State, 38,431.68 

140,014.65 

A recruiting office was opened in Warren's Block in the spring 
of 1 86 1. Several persons belonging to this town enlisted as recruits 
to fill up Massachusetts regiments, and a number whose homes were 
in Kennebunk enlisted in towns in other states, where they were 
temporarily employed, while quite a few of our citizens voluntarily 
enlisted and joined Maine regiments. The following is a list of 
soldiers who fought in the Union Army as recorded by Mr. Walker. 



history of kennebunk. 499 

Residents Who Enlisted in i86i. 

Plummer A. Adjutant, was enrolled in the Maine Infantry, his term 
of service to his country being three years and four months. 

Joseph S. Brown, enlisted in the Naval service in New York, serving 

three years. 
Samuel VV. Brown, enlisted in the Naval service in Boston for two 

years. 
Orville D. Bryant, was a musician in the Massachusetts Infanty; at 

the end of ten months he was discharged under act of Congress 

requiring dismissal of unnecessary bands of music. 

Benjamin E. Burgess, was mustered into the Maine Infantry; serv- 
ing thirteen months, he passed away shortly after his discharge 
from effects of an injury received while in the service. 

Edward B. Butland, enlisted in the Massachusetts Infantry; he 

served three years, when he received a wound in his side and 

was discharged. 
Lewis W. Butterfield, was mustered into the Maine Infantry; he was 

in the service seven months, when he died of yellow fever in 

New Orleans. 
William H. Clark, served in the Maine Infantry three years; he 

died of a fever. 
Samuel Cole, was three years in the Maine Infantry. 

Oliver M. Cousens, was mustered into the Maine Infantry; he was 
discharged after nine months for disability. 

George G. Downing, was with the Maine Infantry as a musician for 
ten months, when he was discharged under act of Congress. 

George S. Dutch, served nearly three years in the Maine Infantry; 

he was wounded in his left leg. 
Amos C. Emerson, was three years in the United States Artillery. 

George W. Emerson, Maine Infantry; at the end of seven months 

he received a certificate of disability. 
Washington Emerson, Maine Infantry ; died in the service. 
Lorenzo S. Emery, Maine Infantry; said to have deserted. 

Tristram Goodwin, was a musician in the First Maine Cavalry for 

ten months, when he was dismissed. 
George W. Hatch, served three years in the Maine Infantry. 



500 HISTORY OP- KENNEBUNK. 

Joshua Hatch, Jr., enlisted twice in the Massachusetts Infantry; he 
served one year in all. 

Robert Hatch, was a sergeant in the Massachusetts Infantry; he 
was badly wounded and honorably discharged after seventeen 
months. 

James P. Hill, served the Massachusetts Infantry and United States 
Artillery for nearly six years. 

Joseph C. Hill, was a sergeant in the Massachusetts Infantry and a 
second lieutenant in the First Maine Cavalry; he served four- 
teen months in all. 

Thatcher J. Huff, served twenty-one months in the Massachusetts 
Infantry; he was wounded and received a certificate of disability. 

Horace Junkins, was enrolled in the Maine Infantry September 7, 
1 86 1. He was reported "missing"; probably killed in battle, 
May 16, 1864, not having been heard from since that date. 

Robert P. Junkins, First Maine Cavalry, musician ; in ten months 
he received his dismissal per order of Congress. 

Edward W. Kimball, served three years in the Massachusetts Infantry. 

Israel Kimball, was thirteen months in the New Hampshire Infantry; 
he received a certificate of disability. 

David H. Knights, was three years and seven months in the Maine 
Infantry ; he died in a hospital. 

John G. Knights, enlisted in the Massachusetts Infantry; died of a 
fever in February, 1862. 

Frederick H. Littlefield, was in the Naval service three years. 

Gustavus B, Littlefield, was also in the Naval service three years. 

Joseph Littlefield, served four years and seven months in the Maine 
Infantry; he was given a certificate of disability. 

Nahum Littlefield, was one year and seven months in the Maine 
Infantry; he too received a certificate of disability. 

John Moody, was with the Maine Infantry fifteen months, when he 
died of a fever. 

Benjamin F. Oaks, served a year and three months in two enlist- 
ments in the Maine Infantry; he was wounded and was dis- 
charged by a certificate of disability. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 501 

Micajah Pope, enlisted with the New York Infantry and was de- 
tached to the Signal Corps, Army of the Potomac; at the end 
of three years he received his discharge as "a good and faith- 
ful soldier." 

Harrison Sargent, enlisted in the Massachusetts Infantry, also in 
the Maine Infantry, serving three years and five months alto- 
gether; he was given a certificate of disability. 

Emerson Smith, served nineteen months in the Maine Infantry; he 

received a certificate of disability. 
Frederick Stevens, Jr., was drafted into the Maine Infantry; he is 

said to have deserted at the end of nineteen months. 
Jesse M. Stevens, served the Massachusetts Infantry two years; he 

was killed in battle. May, 1863. 

John L. Taylor, served four years and two months in the Massa- 
chusetts Infantry. 

Charles H. Thompson, was in the Naval service fifteen months. 
Samuel C. Thompson, served sixteen months in the Massachusetts 
Infantry; he died in a hospital. 

Albert Webber, was one year in the Maine Infantry; he died from 
wounds received in battle. 

Seth P. Whitten, was drafted into the Maine Infantry; he is said to 
have deserted a month after he was mustered in. It is believed 
that he later enlisted in the New Hampshire Infantry under an 
assumed name and died of fever in a New Orleans hospital. 

Enlistments in 1862. 
Charles Bennett, served two years and ten months in the Maine 

Infantry; he was wounded and given a certificate of disability. 
Calvin Boston, was two years and ten months in the Maine Infantry; 

he was wounded but not disabled. 
Charles Brown, was mustered into the Maine Infantry, serving two 

years and eight months, when he was wounded and granted a 

certificate of disability. 
Joseph T. Brown, served in the Maine Infantry; at the end of nine 

months he was also given a certificate of disability. 
John Bunker, enlisted as a musician in the First Maine Cavalry; he 

died of congestion of the lungs before he was mustered in. 



502 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

F. Augustus Butland, a sergeant in the Maine Infantry; was mor- 
tally wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, after being in service 
ten months and a half. 

Eleazer Clark, was promoted to the quartermaster's department in 
the Maine Infantry as commissary sergeant of non-commis- 
sioned stafif, January, 1865 ; he was in service two years and 
ten months. 

William H. Collins, served two years and ten months in the Maine 
Infantry. 

John P. Dutch, was eleven months in the Maine Infantry; he died 
of a fever in South Carolina. 

Cyrus B. Goff, served in the Maine Infantry nearly three years; he 
was confined in Libby Prison four months. 

Charles F. Grant, was mustered into the Maine Infantry, the time 
of service rendered by him being two years and ten months. 

Alvin E. Griffin, served three years in the Maine and United States 
Infantries. The following list of battles in which he partici- 
pated from October 14, 1863, to October i, 1864, is named on 
his discharge: Bristow Station, Rappahannock Station, Mine 
Run, Wilderness, Coal Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, 
Preble Farm and Chapel House. 

Benjamin F. Hawkes (of Buxton ; in the Adjutant General's report 
his residence is given as Kennebunk), served ten months in 
the Maine Infantry ; he died of a fever. 

Benjamin Hubbard, served nearly three years in the Maine Infantry 
and although he was in seventeen engagements while in the 
army yet he was not wounded in battle or otherwise injured. 

Alvah Jellison, served a year and a half in the Maine Infantry; he 

was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg and discharged by a 

certificate of disability. 
Albert Junkins, was mustered into the Maine Infantry and served 

nearly three years. 
William Junkins, was two years, seven and one-half months with the 

Maine Infantry; he died of heart disease. 

Charles M. Kimball, served nine months in the Massachusetts 

Infantry. 
Frank Kimball, was fifteen months in the Naval service. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 503 

Joseph G. Knights, enlisted in the Massachusetts Infantry ; he was 
discharged by a certificate of disability after having served but 
a couple of months. 

Orrin R. Littlefield, served in the Maine Infantry two years and ten 

months. 
Jacob T. Locke, was a corporal in the Maine Infantry for eleven 

months, when he was given a certificate of disability. 

Marshall Lowell, was mustered into the Maine Infantry; he died 
suddenly at the end of two months. 

Lyman Maxwell, served in the Maine Infantry two years and three 
months; he was taken prisoner by guerillas and died in 
Andersonville Prison. 

E. Furber Mitchell, was enrolled to serve nine months with the 

Massachusetts Infantry. 
Charles Nason, was appointed a chaplain in the Maine Infantry, 

which position he held for one year, when he resigned. 

Charles H. Nason, was mustered into the Maine Infantry and trans- 
fered to the United States Infantry, serving one year and seven 
months, when he was taken prisoner and died in Andersonville 
Prison. 

George H. Oaks, was drafted to serve nine months with the Massa- 
chusetts Infantry. 

Benjamin Remich, was nearly four years with the Maine Infantry. 

Alvah J. Rideout, served two years and three months in the Maine 
Infantry; he died in prison at Florence, South Carolina. 

Henry D. Simpson, was two years and nine months in the Maine 
Infantry. 

Samuel C. Thompson, was mustered into the Massachusetts In- 
fantry; at the end of a year and four months he was taken ill 
and died in a Rhode Island hospital, 

John W. Treadwell, served two years and two months with the 
Maine Infantry. 

Edmund D. Vaughan, served nearly two years and a half in the 
Maine Infantry; he was taken prisoner at the battle of Fair 
Oaks, Virginia, and died in the prision at Andersonville. 

Edwin B. Veazie, was with the Maine Infantry nine months; he 
died in a hospital. 



504 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

James Veazie, served nearly two years in the Maine Infantry; he 
died of typhoid fever. 

Charles J. Webster, having joined the Maine Infantry, died of 

typhoid fever at the end of ten months. 
Jesse H. Webster, after serving one year, seven and one-half months 

was discharged with a certificate of disability from the Maine 

Infantry. 
George A. Wentworth, served two years and ten months in the 

Maine Infantry. 
Jeremiah P. Wormword, was in the Naval service three years. 

A second quota of forty-six soldiers was called for a few weeks 
after the first had been raised ; the term of service was nine months. 
Forty-five of these joined Company I, Twenty-seventh Regiment of 
the Maine Infantry. This regiment was assigned picket duty in the 
vicinity of Washington, D. C, an important station. All served 
their full term and were honorably discharged. The men that 
enlisted in this regiment from our town are as follows: — 

James M. Stone, Lieutenant Colonel. 
Seth E. Bryant, Captain. 
Henry Littlefield, Second Lieutenant. 
Isaac M. Emery, Sergeant. 
William H. Moody, Sergeant. 
John G. Cole, Corporal. 
George W. Emerson, Corporal. 
Edward N. Larrabee, Corporal. 
Charles D. Tripp, Corporal. 

George W. Adjutant, Alpheus T. Kimball, 

Charles L. Burnham, Charles Kimball, 

Nathaniel Butland, Emerson Littlefield, 

Benjamin Buttrick, John S. Manson, 

William G. Cousens, Adam McCulloch, Jr., 

Orlando Drown, Jonas F. Merrill, 

Albra Garland, James E. Moody, 

Charles E. Garland, George W. Oakes, 

Charles W. Gooch, Otis Perkins, 

John B. Gooch, Emery S. Robinson, 

William H. Gooch, George E. Robinson, 

Nicholas Grant, Horace V. Robinson, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 505 

James C. Haley, Orrin W. Robinson, 

Charles Hanscomb, George W. Taylor, 

Samuel L. Hill, Horace Taylor, 

Charles S. Hubbard, George W. Wakefield, 

Anthony Jackson, Hartley L. Wells, 

Thomas L. Jose, Octavius E. Wells. 

John Q. A. Ford joined Company A, Twenty-fifth Regiment of 
the Maine Infantry, which made up the total of forty-six men that 
were drafted at this time. 

In July, 1863, fifty-seven residents of Kennebunk were drafted 
at Portland ; of this number only nine were accepted by the exam- 
ining surgeon and each of these procured a substitute or paid a 
commutation fee. 

In October of the same year our town was again called upon 
for soldiers, its quota being thirty-four; of this number but twelve 
were obtained in Kennebunk, viz. : — 

*William H. Moody, Second Lieutenant, George O. Cook, 

*James E. Moody, Sergeant, *Albra Garland, 

*George W. Wakefield, Sergeant, *John W. Hanscomb, 

*George W. Oakes, Corporal, Joseph Kimball, 

William Cleaves, *Adam McCulloch, Jr., 

Freeman A. Cobb, *Horace Taylor. 

All of the foregoing number joined Company L, Second Maine 
Cavalry, and were in the United States service nearly two years 
under this enlistment. 

Charles Nason, of Kennebunkport, was appointed chaplain to 
this regiment, but was discharged by resignation after having served 
in this capacity fifteen months. 

Twenty-one men, additional to the above, required to fill the 
town's quota of thirty-four men, were obtained elsewhere. 

Those who enlisted in other regiments of the Maine Infantry 
from this town during the year 1863 were: — 
John W. Fisher, time of service seventeen months; he was wounded 

in his left arm and discharged by a certificate of disability. 
Frank Stevens, served seven months; he was taken ill and died in 

Virginia. 
George T. Webber, was in the service twenty-two months. 

♦Second enlistment. 



506 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Gilbert Wakefield joined the Massachusetts Cavalry, remaining 

with them nearly two years and eight months. 

Another call for soldiers was made upon this town in February, 

1864, the demand being for fifty-seven men; fifty-six of these were 

obtained elsewhere and one, John Robker, was sent from here. 

The bounty paid him amounted to three hundred and twenty-five 

dollars; expenses, twenty dollars and five cents. 

The following enlistments of Kennebunk men in the United 

States service during the years 1864 and 1865 were: — 

Seth E. Bryant, Captain of Company A, Thirty-second Regiment of 
the Maine Infantry; he resigned on account of ill health 
November 25, 1864, serving his second term in this capacity 
nearly nine months. 

Daniel M. Chapman, enlisted in New York in the Naval service. 

Henrv F. Curtis, was commissioned Ensign in the Navy from May 
23, 1864, to November 15, 1865. 

Stephen G. Dorman, was appointed First Lieutenant of Company 
K, Thirty-second Regiment of the Maine Infantry; he resigned 
in about four months, August 4, 1864. 

William Gillpatrick, was mustered into the Maine Infantry, March 
13, 1865, for one year's service. 

William C. Goodwin, was enrolled in the Eleventh Regiment, Com- 
pany C, of the Maine Infantry October 8, 1864, for one year's 
service. 

John W. Hanscomb, was transferred from the Second Cavalry Reg. 
iment to the Naval service June 30, 1864; he was discharged a 
few months later by a certificate of disability. 

Charles F. Hatch, served nine months in the Maine Infantry, from 
October 5, 1864, to July 13, 1865. 

Charles S. Hubbard, Sergeant of Company K, Thirty-second Regi- 
ment of the Maine Infantry, was mustered in the sixth of May, 
1864, his second enlistment; he was fatally wounded in battle 
July thirtieth and passed away the following day. 

Greenleaf C. Hutchins, enlisted in New York, July 20, 1864, in the 
Naval service and was discharged at Norfolk, Va., July, 1867. 

John C. Lord, was commissioned Ensign in the Navy June 22, 1864; 
he was discharged August 23, 1867. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 507 

Philip Lynch, colored, enlisted in the Naval service in the spring of 

1865, where he remained a number of years. 
Adam McCulloch, Jr., was transferred from the Second Maine Cav- 
alry to the Naval service June 30, 1864, where he was rated 
quartermaster; he was taken sick and died December thirty- 
first of that year. 
E. Furber Mitchell, was employed in the United States Construction 

Corps of Mississippi from August 29, 1864, to April 8, 1865. 
Albert F. Pitts, was assigned to Company E, Twenty-ninth Regiment 
of the Maine Infantry March 26, 1864, and was discharged 
June 10, 1865, without having joined it. 
John Pring, enlisted in the Navy at Portsmouth, N. H., in Septem- 
ber, 1864; he was discharged six months later. 
Charles H. Robinson, served in the First Maine Cavalry nine 
months, when he was taken with typhoid fever and died at 
City Point, Va., September 27, 1864. 
Henry P. Shorey, was mustered into the First Maine Cavalr}', Janu- 
ary 26, 1864; he was wounded in a skirmish and taken pris- 
oner to Richmond, where he died in Libby Prison December 7, 
1864. 
William Symonds, was an Ensign in the Naval service from Febru- 
ary II, 1864, to June 20, 1865 ; he resigned his commission on 
account of ill health. 
Edward Thompson, was appointed master's mate in the Naval ser- 
vice from May, 1864, to February 28, 1865. 
Charles P. Whitten, served for about seven months in Company F, 
Twelfth Maine Regiment ; he died of an illness which he con- 
tracted in service October 2, 1865. 

The number of soldiers furnished by Kennebunk, in compli- 
ance with calls from the Government, was one hundred and sixty- 
nine, eighty-seven of whom were obtained in this town or its vicinity 
and eighty-two were enlisted elsewhere (including three substitutes 
provided by drafted men). Seventy-nine of our citizens enlisted in 
other States or in other parts of this State. Our entire contribution 
to the land and naval service of the United States may be justly 
stated to be two hundred and forty-eight citizens and hired men. 

Of the one hundred and sixty-six enlistments recorded in the 
foregoing lists, twenty-one were re-enlistments, so that the names of 
only one hundred and forty-five different persons are embraced 



508 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

therein. Some of this number cannot rightfully be called citizens 
of Kennebunk ; a few of them, when enlisted, were citizens of 
adjoining towns and others were temporary residents whose legal 
homes were elsewhere. It is fair, we think, to estimate the whole 
number of these two classes at twenty, thus giving to Kennebunk 
one hundred and twenty-five actual residents who enlisted in the 
United States service, land and naval, during the Civil War. No 
better soldiers "faced the cannon's mouth" than were some of 
those who were the native or adopted sons of Kennebunk. Honor 
and gratitude are due to all who left their homes and risked their 
lives as faithful defenders of their country's cause in its time of 
trial. Kennebunk may well be proud of its war record, from the 
first " call to arms " to the cessation of hostilities. The living of 
that number have an honorable record which will last as long as 
the nation has a history. The large marble* tablet which is securely 
fastened to the wall, midway up the staircase of Mousam Hall, tells 
the sad story of those who were not permitted to return ; of widowed 
wives, of orphaned children and of bereaved parents. The tablet 
was placed there shortly after the close of the war to commemorate 
the memories of the victims of that struggle whose names are 
recorded thereon. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

BIOGRAPHICAL AND ANECDOTAL. 

BooTHBY, Richard, came over to this country about 1720. 
After looking around awhile, with the view of finding a desirable 
place wherein to establish himself as a tanner and shoemaker, he 
decided to try his fortune in Wells. He was a remarkably good- 
looking man, industrious, prudent and exemplary. He married Miss 
Mabel Littlefield, who was quite plain, indeed she was exceedingly 
"homely," as well as masculine in her manners. Her father, who 
was a trader in Wells, owned a sloop, of which she was commander. 
He shipped lumber, fish and other merchandise to Boston, receiving 
in return goods for his store and money; not unfrequently freight 
was offered by parties not connected with the family, which added 
to the profits of the voyage. Mabel was a merchant as well as a 
sailor; she bought and sold discreetly and her management of the 
sloop evidenced that she was quite proficient in seamanship. For 
several years she pursued the business of coasting very successfully. 
But Mabel was vain ; her weakness was an inordinate fondness for 
jewelry and with this she bedecked herself extravagantly. Her 
friends, of both sexes, frequently bantered her on this foible, assur- 
ing her that she could never pile enough jewelry on her person to 
overcome the ugliness of her features, and that she must make up 
her mind to live in single blessedness always. To these jokers she 
would good-naturedly reply that she wore the jewelry to please her- 
self and without any reference to "catching a beau," but always 
declared that she should in good time marry one of the best and 
one of the handsomest young men in town. In course of time 
Boothby became a resident of Wells; he was just the man that she 
would wish to accompany along the pathway of life in the sacred 
relation of wife. They met frequently and he was finally won over to 
her side. She was smart, capable, unimpeachable in moral character, 
agreeable and intelligent in conversation, and had laid by, for the 
time, a snug little property ; she became his wife and it is believed 
that he never had reason to regret his choice. He removed to Ken- 
nebunk shortly after his marriage, having purchased land of Stephen 

509 



510 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

Harding, on Wood Neck, so-called. To this purchase he later added 
several other lots in the vicinity. He built a house near that occu- 
pied for a time by Warren R. Barney as a boarding house, but 
nearer the beach. This building was torn down by his son, who 
built another on the elevated ground, which formed the lower story 
of the boarding house just referred to. A second story was after- 
ward added and its exterior much improved. Thomas Boothby, Sr., 
a great-grandson of Richard, inherited and for many years resided 
on a part of the original purchase. It subsequently became the 
property of the Kennebunk and Kennebunkport Seashore Company. 
Richard Boothby was frequently elected a member of important 
committees by the town and by the Second Parish, which authorizes 
the conclusion that he was much respected and regarded as a relia- 
ble and judicious man by his townsmen. He and his wife united 
with the church of the Second Parish at its organization in 175 1. 
To Richard and Mabel Boothby the many persons bearing the sur- 
name in this town and the descendants of those who emigrated 
from this town can trace their lineage. 

Bourne, Edward E., son of John, was a lawyer. He held the 
office of selectman for five years, 1828 to 1832, and represented the 
town in the State Legislature six years, 1826 to 1831 ; he was also 
county attorney two years, 1830 and '31, and judge of probate from 
1856 to 1873. He was the author of the History of Wells and 
Kennebunk, 

Bourne, George, son of John, was a shipbuilder in business 
at the Landing. 

Bourne, Israel W., son of John, taught private schools in 
Kennebunk and in Dover, N. H. Most of his mature years were 
spent in the employment of a Boston wholesale house as bookkeeper- 

Bourne, Thomas, son of John, was a physician. He moved 
to the eastward. 

Bourne, Julia A., daughter of John, married Henry Kingsbury. 

Bourne, Olive L., daughter of John, married Dr. William S. 
Emerson and at his decease became the wife of Capt. Ivory Lord. 

Bryant, William M., a native of Buxton, Maine, came to 
Kennebunk from Rochester, Mass., in 1831, where he had served 
for a few years as a minister of the "Christian" denomination. 
Here he was employed for many years as a teacher of common 
schools; he was a popular, earnest and conscientious instructor. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 511 

Mr. Bryant officiated as the town treasurer for several years; he 
represented the town in the State Legislature in 1841 and was one 
of the selectmen for the years 1842 and '43 and again from 1849 to 
1854; he was also a member of the superintending school committee 
for some time. He married Mary E., daughter of Isaac Emery, 
August 17, 1823 ; they had eleven children, five of whom died early. 
Mr. Bryant passed away January 9, 1876, aged eighty years; his 
widow died January 13, 1879. 

Bryant, Seth Emery, was the eldest child of William M. and 
Mary E. Bryant; he was born in Rochester, Mass., March 14, 1826, 
and was brought to this town by his parents in 1831. He was en- 
gaged in different business pursuits from 1844 to September, 1862, 
when he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-seventh Maine Regi- 
ment for nine months' service; he was chosen Captain of Company 
I in said regiment, which was stationed in the vicinity of Washington 
for the defense of the National Capital, and returned home at the 
expiration of his term of service. In March, 1864, he again joined 
the army as Captain of Company A, Thirty-second Maine Regiment. 
In May of the same year Mr. Bryant was attacked with '-typho- 
malaria," contracted during the march from Washington to Spott- 
sylvania, by way of the "Wilderness," which forced him to resign 
and to return to his home in December. Captain Bryant was dep- 
uty collector and inspector of the customs from 1865 to 1885 and 
he was one of the selectmen twenty-two years, between 1857 and 
1886. He passed away January 26, 1888. 

Burks, John. What "manner of person" this man was we 
are unable to say. He probably came to Wells in 1725, in com- 
pany with the returning soldiers from the Lovewell fight, and took 
up his abode there. He became a tenant in Doctor Sayer's house, 
on Great Hill, as early as 1740. He probably had married in Wells 
and was the father of two or more children when he moved within 
the precinct of Kennebunk. He enlisted as a private in Maj. John 
Storer's company, raised for the Louisburg expedition. Mr. Burks 
was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of the Second Parish 
in 1749. He is represented as very poor. Fish from the surround- 
ing waters, clams from the flats and a bird occasionally, made up 
the usual daily bill of fare for the family; vegetables were rarely 
added and Indian meal or any other kind of cereal was a luxury 
that they seldom enjoyed. At one time, it is said that they came 
in possession of four quarts of meal, two of which were cooked for 



612 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

the family and the remainder set aside for use at an expected 
event. Mrs. Burks soon afterward gave birth to triplets, three 
lively boys. To cover one of these a few strips of old cloth had 
been provided ; for the others there was not to be found in the 
house "a rag to cover their nakedness." Boothby's family provided 
for their wants, assisted somewhat, doubtless, by the Webbers. The 
children grew, the mother was soon "about house," and the "tide 
of affairs" rolled on as quietly and as smoothly as it had before this 
accession to its number. The mother insisted upon naming them, 
respectively, "Much Experience," "Little to depend upon" and 
"Great Deliverance." How these names were abbreviated for 
every-day use we have not learned. All the children fell victims to 
a throat distemper which prevailed extensively throughout New 
England from 1735 to 1745. Burks and his wife left the Kenne- 
bunk parish before 1760. We find on the town records of Wells 
the record of the marriage of William Butland to Mary Burks, per- 
haps the sister of John, in 1765, and of the marriage of Richard 
Burks, probably the son of John, to Mary Stewart, in 1785. 

Churchill, Joseph, moved into this town from Arundel about 
1774 and kept a store near the site of the dwelling-house owned 
and occupied by George Wise. He was lieutenant in Capt. James 
Hubbard's company, which was stationed at Cambridge, Mass., 
enlisting for eight months' service, 1775. He probably was not long a 
resident of Arundel, as Bradbury does not mention him. He evi- 
dently had considerable capital or excellent credit and was a good 
business man. It is not known whether he re-enlisted after the 
expiration of his term of service, or was killed, or took up his abode 
elsewhere; he did not again make this town his home. Churchill 
probably built the store on the Wise lot which he occupied. 

Clark, Jonas, was a son of Rev. Jonas Clark, of Lexington, 
Mass., where he remained until his majority, when he removed to 
Portland and there engaged in mercantile pursuits. He came to 
Kennebunk about 1787 and formed a copartnership with Thomas 
A. Condy. Mr. Clark was married to Sally Watts, of Portland, in 
July, 1789. He was the first collector of the customs for the Dis- 
trict and Port of Kennebunk, established in 1800, which office he 
held until 1810. In 1800 he was also appointed a standing justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas for York County, which position he 
held until the organization of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas in 
181 1, when he was made special justice. He received the appoint- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 513 

ment of judge of probate in 1818, succeeding Stephen Thacher, and 
retained the position until September, 1828, when he resigned. "In 
all his public stations he discharged his duties with ability and 
integrity. In private life he was remarkably pleasant, kind and 
benevolent." He removed from the village of Kennebunk to his 
farm at Wells Branch a few years before his decease, which occurred 
November 8, 1828. 

CoNDY, Capt. Thomas A., came here from Portland about 
1785 and succeeded Joseph Churchill in the country store kept in 
a small building on the lot occupied by the dwelling-house of Mr. 
George Wise. In 1787 he took Jonas Clark into his store as a 
partner. In May, 1789, he was married in Portland; his wife and 
Clark's were cousins. Condy enlarged the store and the added part 
was improved by him as a dwelling-house. The firm of Condy & 
Clark afterward removed uptown and built a store opposite the lot 
on which the Joseph Porter house was erected. 

CousENS, Maj. Nathaniel, was for many years one of the 
most prominent and useful of the citizens of Wells; he always lived 
in the part of the town known as Kennebunk. His wife was Catha- 
rine, daughter of Joshua Lassel, Jr., of Arundel, and granddaughter 
of Joshua Lassel, a cooper, who removed from York to Arundel in 
1723. We think that Major Cousens was longer in military service 
during the Indian and Revolutionary Wars than any other inhabit- 
ant of this town ; he always promptly responded to the call of duty, 
was fearless and efficient as a soldier and as an officer, and always 
merited and received the commendation of his superior officers. He 
served as ensign during the first eight months at Cambridge in 
1775; as first lieutenant at Falmouth in 1776, as adjutant of the 
regiment in command of Colonel Storer at the taking of Burgoyne 
that same year; as captain in the expedition to Penobscot in 1779, 
and in the same service was promoted to the rank of major; in all, 
something more than two years' service in the Revolutionary Army, 
In town affairs Major Cousens was held in high esteem. He was 
one of the selectmen for the long term of twenty-one years, and 
when he declined a re-election in 1809 a "vote of thanks of the 
town to Maj. Nathaniel Cousens for his good services " was unani- 
mously adopted. He was frequently chosen auditor of the treas- 
urer's accounts, a member of important committees, and by the 
Second Parish he was regarded as one of the most valuable mem- 
bers. His daughter Catharine married Benjamin Wentworth, of 



514 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

this town; she was considered to be an excellent woman. Joshua, 
Jr., was a soldier in the company raised by Maj. John Storer, in 
Wells and vicinity, by order of Sir William Pepperell, to join the 
expedition to Louisburg. Major Cousens died August 13, 1832, 
aged ninety-one years. 

Fernald-Furnell. The Fernald families in town trace their 
descent to Renald Furnell, surgeon, of Kittery. Richard Vines 
conveyed to "Thomas Furnell, son of Renald, two islands on the 
northeast side of the Piscataqua River, known as Puddington's 
Islands for a yearly rental of 6s. and 6d." The first inhabitant of 
this town of that name came here from Kittery and purchased land 
and built a house on the road leading to "Hart's Beach." His 
descendants still own and occupy the old homestead. 

Fisher, Jacob, was a good physician, an excellent citizen and a 
public-spirited man. He was a great reader, especially of historical 
and philosophical works, an impartial and judicious magistrate. He 
was noted for sarcastic writings, both in prose and poetry, descrip- 
tive of ludicrous incidents "about town," and lampooning shams in 
whatsoever walk of life they might be found. His fund of anec- 
dotes was almost inexhaustible; he was an excellent story-teller; 
no matter how mirth-provoking the anecdote that he was relating, he 
never exhibited the slightest show of mirth until it was completed, 
and then his laughter was long, loud and hearty. A few years ago 
material for a good-sized duodecimo volume might easily have been 
collected, made up of reminiscences of jokes that he had perpetrated, 
of his dry and frequent sayings and of facetious stories that he 
had told. We have room for only a very few of them : — 

(i) The Doctor was somewhat liberal in his religious views. 
An honest but a weak-minded man, who had attained to the position 
of deacon, was frequently much saddened when listening to the 
Doctor's remarks on sacred things, purposely made quite objection- 
able when the Deacon was present. One Saturday afternoon sev- 
eral gentlemen had congregated in one of the village stores and 
among them the Deacon. A case of over-zealous action on the part 
of a citizen whose life, it was generally admitted, did not accord 
with his professions, became the subject of discussion. The Doctor, 
although he did not often indulge in personalities, was outspoken 
in reference to hypocritical professors and narrow-minded bigots. 
The Deacon was aggrieved. Said he : " Doctor, I wish you would 
not say such things ; I wish you could be converted, become a 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 515 

Christian man and work in the Saviour's cause ; with your talents 
and influence you might be a powerful instrument in the great work 
of reforming mankind. I have faith to believe that I can convince 
you of your error. Now suppose that I state my belief, and when I 
say anything you cannot agree to, it shall be right for you to inter- 
rupt me, when we will peacefully argue the point, I being allowed 
the same privilege when you state your belief." "Very well," 
responded the Doctor, "proceed, Deacon." After a brief parleying 
about which one should commence the discussion, the Deacon, with 
a few preliminary "hems and coughs," commenced : "I believe I 
am a rational and an accountable being." The Doctor interrupted: 
^^I lioubt that, decidedly, Deacon." The debate had closed! 

(2) The Doctor had an apothecary's shop at the northeast 
corner of his dwelling-house; the entrance to which was near the 
street. In the doorway he sat, in his armchair, several hours each 
day when the weather permitted such a position to be enjoyable. 
Passers-by very frequently stopped a few moments for a brief chat, 
and especially was this the case on pleasant evenings during the 
summer months. On such evenings, too, a few of the neighbors were 
accustomed to take places in the vicinity of the Doctor's chair and to 
engage in conversation respecting the weather, gunning, farming, the 
political and other topics of the time of general interest and incidents 
of village life. The Doctor had a farm-hand, the embodiment of hon- 
esty and simplicity, who frequently stood by and listened to these 
conversations. It struck John, at one time, that he had a question 
to propose which would give to the neighbors a somewhat exalted 
opinion of his intelligence and sagacity. "Doctor," said he, at one 
of these gatherings, "if two men sign a note, don't they write it 'we 
jointly and severely promise to pay'?" "Devilish severely, some- 
times, John." 

(3) The Doctor had a patient in a rural district — a large, 
powerful man and, when sane, one of the most affable and exem- 
plary — who was afiflicted with occasional spells of insanity. It was 
necessary, at times, to confine him in a large cage, such as is often 
used with persons in his condition. He had had a long and dis- 
tressing attack of his trouble and had become so furious that the 
family were afraid that he would " break his prison bars." The Doctor 
was sent for, and upon his arrival he bled the man prof usely, but not 
without a severe struggle. After awhile the paroxysm subsided and 
the patient became calm and more rational. Suddenly he knelt. 



516 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

saying, "Let us pray," All present assumed a fitting attitude. He 
made a very long prayer, commending to guidance and protection — 
so it appeared to his listeners — everybody and everything, including 
even his Satanic majesty, that he might "be loosed from his bonds 
and become a minister of good to all peoples." At length he closed 
with: "And now, O Lord, here is Thy servant Jacob, may — Thy 
servant Jacob — here is Thy servant Jacob. Amen." "A very 

excellent prayer, Mr. ," said the Doctor at its close. "Yes," 

answered the patient, "I think it was. I felt, as I went along, that 
I was gifted from on High, but I must say when I came to pray for 
you, Brother Jacob, I — was — confoundedly — bothered. / had to 
give it tip.''^ 

(4) Occasionally the tables were turned and the Doctor came 
off second best. There was a worthy lady of his acquaintance who 
regarded regular attendance at the church services as the essential 
duty, never to be neglected when health would admit of its perform- 
ance. At one time as she was passing his door, on her way to a 
Wednesday evening meeting, the Doctor, in a slow and measured 
tone, began to recite the well-known lines: "And while the lamp 
holds out to burn"; the lady hurriedly interrupted, "The vilest 
sinner may return," Doctor. 

Doctor Fisher died the twenty-seventh of October, 1840, aged 
eighty-one years. 

Fletcher, Nathaniel Hill, was born in Boxborough, Mass., 
in 1769. His father was a farmer, in good pecuniary circumstances 
and much esteemed as a worthy and an exemplary man. Having 
completed the usual preparatory studies, he entered Harvard Col- 
lege in 1789, where he took a course in divinity and graduated in 
1793. He came to Kennebunk in 1798 and was teacher of the 
winter terms of the public school in the village from 1798 to 1800, 
and of a private school in the interim, frequently assisting Rev. Mr. 
Little in his pulpit exercises; he was ordained as colleague pastor 
with Mr. Little in September, 1800. Mr. Fletcher was a fine scholar, 
a good speaker, clear and distinct although moderate in his utter- 
ance, and undoubtedly ranked with the foremost of his profession 
in this county, if not in the State. After Maine became a State it 
is said that Judge Mellen and a prominent member of the Cumber- 
land County Bar were accustomed, on the Sunday preceding a term 
of the court at York, to leave Portland at an early hour so as to 
reach Kennebunk in season to attend the morning service, in order 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 517 

that "they might listen to Mr. Fletcher's impressive prayers and 
one of his sound, practical sermons." At the close of the afternoon 
service they resumed their journey and reached York in the evening. 
Mr. Fletcher was married, January i, 1801, to Sally, daughter 
of John Storer, innkeeper, of Wells, and commenced housekeeping 
in the Doctor Rice house, then owned by Captain Dighton, afterward 
owned and occupied by Mrs. John Osborn. A year or two later Mr. 
Fletcher purchased and occupied the estate formerly belonging to 
Samuel Stevens, Jr., then recently deceased, consisting of an unfin- 
ished house and barn and several acres of land, to which, in after 
years, he added several contiguous lots. This estate has recently 
been in the possession of Edwin Parsons. There were born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Fletcher eight children, viz. : Abel, who became a popu- 
lar lecturer on astronomy, and afterward a minister of the Methodist 
denomination; he married a lady belonging to Litchfield, N. H., of 
which town he was a resident for many years and, we think, until 
his death. Abigail, who married a farmer belonging to Boxborough, 
Mass. George (Wallingford), who was a teacher; he died, while 
employed as principal of the Academy at Baton Rouge, La., June 
22, 1848, aged thirty-one years. Jonas, who died in early manhood. 
Hannah, who married Joseph A. Whitney, of Boston, October 11, 
1841 ; Mary, who married William W. Fuller, counselor at law, of 
Mount Pleasant, 111.; John, who married September 9, 1840, at 
Dorchester, Mass., Miss Clarissa Tolman; and Charles. In stature 
Mr. Fletcher was above the medium height; he was well formed 
and commanding in appearance. 

He adored his profession. No duty was neglected. The 
bounds of the town were also the bounds of his parish. The sick 
and distressed were visited by him and words of consolation spoken 
to them ; the poor always found in him a firm and open-handed 
friend, and when his means would not permit him to do all that 
should be done for their relief, he called the attention of benevolent 
persons of pecuniary ability to such cases of destitution ; the schools 
were not neglected. Young men just entering on the "sober reali- 
ties of life," the middle aged and those advanced in years who had 
been unfortunate and were discouraged always found in him a 
reliable and sympathizing brother and received from him judicious 
advice suited to their respective needs. He performed all the duties 
devolving on him as a Christian minister, a Christian citizen and a 
Christian man with the utmost fidelity and well deserved the respect 
with which he was universally regarded. 



518 HISTORY OF KEXNEBUXK. 

Frost, William, was a soldier and officer in the Revolutionary 
Army from near its commencement to its close. He held the office 
of register of deeds for the County of York for thirty years and that 
of county treasurer nearly all that time. He died in York June 2, 
1827. 

GiLLPATRiCK, Nathaniel, was a ship carpenter and master 
workman for many years in the building yards at the Landing. 
His estate is now owned and occupied by Thomas Crocker. 

Gillpatrick, Asa, the son of Nathaniel, was a shipmaster. 
He married Hannah, daughter of Michael Wise, I\Iay 3, 1822. A 
few weeks subsequently he sailed from Boston, as master of the 
brig Vineyard, for the West Indies. He died in I^Iarch, 1823, while 
on his passage from Port au Prince to another West India island. 

GoocH (spelled on the earlier records, Gouch), John, came to 
this town about 1653 and purchased land on the Mousam and in its 
vicinity. He was also, at one time, part owner of the Middle or Cat 
Mousam Mill and of the privilege. He came from York to this 
town with his wife, Ruth, his son, John, Jr., and other children. 
His name frequently occurs on the records as the buyer and seller of 
real estate. We think that the property held for many years by 
Gooch families, on the sea road, was purchased about 1753 to 1760. 
Some of our best citizens may be found among the descendants of 
John. The senior Gooch sold his house in York and several lots 
of land, which he had "possessed and improved," to Abraham 
Preble, of York, March S, 1653. 

Grant, Capt. John, born about 1745, an officer in the Revolu- 
tionarv Army and a respectable and worthy citizen, died in Kenne- 
bunk, where he had resided for many years, on the third day of 
November, 1825. He was a native of Boston. 

Harding, Stephen, was the son of Israel Harding, to whom 
the town of Wells, September 12, 1670, granted two hundred acres 
of upland and ten acres of marsh, on condition that he should come 
into Wells, as an inhabitant, within three months, continue as such 
five years and do the blacksmith work for the inhabitants "for such 
currant pay as the town doath produce." Stephen, with his wife, 
Abigail Littlefield, of Wells, whom he had recently married, moved 
from the western to the eastern part of Wells about 1702 and settled 
near the mouth of Kennebunk River. He built a garrison house 
sufficientlv large to enable him to entertain travelers : also a 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK, 519 

blacksmith's shop. He was a man of powerful frame, an excellent 
marksman, a hunter, shrewd and dauntless, and of course was 
regarded as a most valuable citizen by his townsmen. He was fre- 
quently employed by the Colonial Government as a guide to expe- 
ditions, both civil and military, sent out under its authority; was 
licensed to keep a public house and to retail ardent spirits; indeed, 
he kept quite a little stock of the luxuries and necessaries of life, 
such as tobacco, tea, coffee, molasses, etc. Many of these he bar- 
tered with the Indians for furs. He was very popular with his red- 
skinned customers, for he was not only remarkably genial, but he 
was strictly honest; whatever he sold them was of full weight and 
measure, and whatever he bought of them was fairly weighed and 
the weight correctly stated to them, and he never watered the liquors 
that he sold. Although so conscientious in his dealings, he felt that 
it was perfectly justifiable occasionally to treat his Indian friends to 
stories that were strongly tinctured with the marvelous. One of 
these we give: While cleaning his gun one day, — the chief Wawa 
and several other red men being present, — he related many gunning 
adventures wherein this piece had acted an important part, and 
concluded by explaining how he loaded it when he was about to go 
in pursuit of wolves, bears or Indians; he put in powder, shot and 
wadding, charge upon charge, until the barrel was filled to within 
an inch or two of its muzzle, and when thus loaded he was enabled, 
by a peculiar motion of the arm which he well understood, to send 
out one charge at a time and to turn the gun so that the shot would 
take effect on animals or persons standing or lying in different 
directions. His auditors listened attentively, looked grave and 
uttered their often-repeated expression, "Much man, Ste-ven." 

The Indians had wigwams in the vicinity of Harding's dwelling 
place and in time of peace were very frequent visitors to his shop 
and house; but in war time they were constantly on the alert to 
capture him alive, with the view of taking him to Canada, where 
his services as a blacksmith, and especially as a gunsmith, would be 
invaluable ; and, moreover, knowing how much he was appreciated 
at home, they were confident that a good sum could be obtained for 
his release from captivity. During Queen Anne's War — 1703 to 
1713 — Harding one morning, from certain indications, felt assured 
that there were no natives in his vicinity. He had been watching 
for an opportunity to visit one of the Cape Porpoise Islands for the 
purpose of obtaining a few ash sticks, of which he stood in need, 
and now seemed to be a favorable moment; the weather was clear, 



520 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

it was calm and the sea smooth. Taking a flat-bottomed boat, he 
proceeded to the island, cut and loaded his ash sticks and was pro- 
ceeding homeward when the wind changed, with a brisk breeze and 
a rough sea; the state of the tide was also unfavorable. He doubted 
the' expediency of attempting to enter the river and determined to 
wait for high water and then beach his boat. While waiting the rise 
of the tide, a dozen or more warriors appeared on the shore; they 
were in high spirits, for it appeared to be certain that Stephen would 
now fall into their hands. Stephen stood up in his boat and pointed 
his gun toward them; they hesitated. The tide attained its maxi- 
mum for the day and Stephen managed to beach his boat and reach 
his domicile in safety. A year or more afterward, when peace pre- 
vailed, nearly all the party of natives just referred to were in Hard- 
ing's shop. This adventure was referred to, when Harding told the 
natives that they were cowardly not to attack him when alone and 
to so great disadvantage, while there were so many of them and 
everything favorable to their success. The spokesman of the 
party shrugged his shoulders and replied: " Dev'lish many charges 
in that gun, Ste-ven." They remembered the story of the loading 
with many charges. 

Bradbury relates this story: One day during the war of 1703- 
13, while on the way to his shop, he noticed a large company of 
savages, of all ages and both sexes, on Oakes's Rocks; a ruse, as 
it afterward appeared, the natives hoping that while Harding was 
scrutinizing this crowd several of the warriors, who were in ambush, 
could, by a stealthy movement, make him a prisoner. The old 
hunter understood Indian trickery too well to be thrown off his 
guard by this manoeuvre. He comprehended the situation at a 
glance and decided that it would be unwise to act on the defensive; 
he must seek safety in flight. He succeeded in getting his wife and 
an infant across the creek (now Gooch's) and the intervening rivers 
between that and Storer's garrison, which he reached late on the 
following day. It was a journey full of peril. Not only were the 
savages in pursuit of him, but a large bear obstructed his path, com- 
pelling him to change his route and pursue a much more circuitous 
course than he had intended. They reached "Tavern Hill," where 
the old Jefferds Hotel now stands, just after nightfall. There was 
no building on the way, only "woods, woods everywhere." The hill 
was covered with a thick growth and here they tarried through 
the night, subsisting on berries, pursuing their way, when daylight 
appeared, through thickets, briers and woods. After a toilsome and 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 521 

anxious day's travel they reached Storer's garrison late in the even- 
ing. The Indians did not destroy Harding's buildings; he reoccu- 
pied them as soon as it was considered prudent for him to do so. 
He kept, as Bradbury informs us, on the marsh near his house, a 
hollow stack of hay, inside of which, in times of danger, he fre- 
quently secreted his family. 

For some reason Harding moved across the river into Arundel 
in 1720, probably, however, the better to pursue his avocation of 
ferryman. He had a grant of fifty acres from the town of Arundel. 
He purchased of the heirs of William Reynolds a large tract of land 
on the east side of the river, but owing to a defect in his title he 
lost fourteen-fifteenths of his purchase, which came into the posses- 
sion of Thomas Perkins. He likewise bought all the land between 
the river and Lake Brook on the west side; his title to this also 
proved to be defective, and Sir William Pepperell became its owner. 
Harding died December 5, 1747, about two months after the 
decease of his wife. He left several children, one of whom, Lydia, 
married Thomas Perkins, Jr., who commanded a company which 
participated in the engagement that resulted in the surrender of 
Louisburg, in 1745. It is supposed that he built the house formerly 
occupied by the late Tristram J. Perkins, in Kennebunkport, 
believed to be the oldest house now standing in that town, having 
been erected about 1730. It subsequently became the property of 
a Mr. Nevins, of Philadelphia, by whom it has been considerably 
improved. The kitchen floor of this house was laid with plank one 
and three-fourths inches in thickness, which were fastened with 
white oak pins or treenails; when this floor was taken up, a few 
years ago, the whole space beneath it was covered to the depth of a 
foot or more with sea sand that had sifted through the openings 
between the planks in the century and a quarter that had elapsed 
since they were laid. Tradition says that the nails used in the 
building of this house were forged by Stephen Harding, father of 
the builder's wife. A strong majority of Harding's descendants, 
through all the generations, have been females. One of his descend- 
ants, in the third generation, married the late Benjamin Elwell, at 
Kennebunk Landing; two of them, James and William, resided in 
this town about 1825, perhaps later, and carried on the business of 
brick making in the yards near the village, one of which was in Bar- 
nard's pasture (since owned by J. H. Ferguson and others) and the 
other in Porter's pasture (now Hartley Lord's). They removed to 
Chelsea, Mass., where they pursued the same occupation very sue- 



522 ' HISTORY OF KENNEHUNK. 

cessfuUy. Joseph Hatch, of Newton, formerly of this town, married 
a descendant of Harding in the fourth generation. We think that 
the name is now extinct in this vicinity. 

Hill, John, was a house carpenter, "a worthy member of 
society." He was born in 1746 and died in March, 18 17. During 
the first decade of the nineteenth century he built the dwelling-house 
now owned and occupied by heirs of the late Ralph Curtis, on a lot 
a few rods above the "Fletcher place." The building, shortly after 
Mr. Hill's death, was sold to Mr. Curtis, who removed it to its pres- 
ent eligible situation. The lot on which it stood was afterward sold 
at auction, as was the half part of the Taylor building which be- 
longed to Hill's estate, now owned and occupied by the heirs of Mrs. 
Hewes. He was an officer, major, in the State Militia. Hr. Hill 
left a widow, son and three daughters. His son, Samuel, was some- 
what daft, but supported himself by various kinds of labor that he 
could perform. He was usually called "Major." Some persons 
were in the habit of making him a butt for coarse jokes and smart 
sayings, who not unfrequently received rejoinders so rough, senten- 
tious and stinging that the aggressor gladly withdrew and left the 
Major "master of the field." One of the daughters married a Mr. 
Jordan, who lived in one of the interior towns in the county; 
another, late in life, went West to reside with a relative or friend, 
and the third, who for a number of years was the teacher of the 
district primary school, died before the breaking up of the family. 
This fanjily lived for many years in the house afterward owned by 
the heirs of John Mitchell, which was moved to its present location 
from the Ross road about 18 18. 

Kezer, Timothy, of the firm of Kezer & Porter in 1809, and 
later a shipbuilder and trader at the Landing, died in September, 
1820, while on his return from a visit to the mouth of Washita River, 
in Louisiana, to his home in Batavia, Ohio. 

Lord. The families in Kennebunk and its vicinity of this sur- 
name trace their genealogy to Robert Lord, who came from England 
in 1636 or '37 and became a resident of Ipswich, Mass. He died in 
1683, leaving four sons, from the two younger of whom — Robert and 
Nathaniel — "the families of New England sprung." "The families 
in Kennebunk and Kennebunkport descended from John, who came 
from Ipswich to Berwick about 1700, in company with two brothers, 
Abraham and Nathaniel." In 1747 Tobias and Benjamin Meeds 
Lord, cousins, came from Berwick to Kennebunkport, "purchased 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 523 

land of one Jeremiah Folsom, on Saco road, and built a garrison 
which they occupied together." Tobias married Jane Smith and 
had eleven children. One of these, Tobias, Jr., after serving an 
apprenticeship on a farm in Sanford, enlisted in a company raised 
in Wells, was chosen lieutenant and served in the Revolutionary 
Army two or three years. He left the army in 1781 and became an 
inhabitant of Kennebunk. He built a small dwelling-house and 
store near the Mousam Mills. Of his business movements subse- 
quently we have spoken in another part of this volume. He married 
Mehitable Scammon ; she lived but a few years after her marriage. 
Their children were Tobias, Nathaniel and Samuel. Tobias lived 
in Arundel and later was a merchant in New York, Nathaniel 
resided in Arundel and was quite successful in business; he was a 
shipowner and had vessels abroad when the War of 18 12 was 
declared ; these luckily escaped the British men-of-war cruisers and 
arrived safely in United States ports ; their cargoes of salt and 
other merchandise sold at extravagantly high prices, the product of 
which, added to the property that he had acquired, made him quite 
wealthy. Samuel remained in Kennebunk for a few years and 
engaged in shipbuilding at the Landing, where he built a dwelling- 
house and store ; then he went to New York and engaged in mer- 
cantile business with Tobias. He married Hannah, daughter of 
Maj. William Jefferds ; they had several children, sons, all of whom 
died in early manhood. Mr. Lord married for his second wife, in 
1781, Hepzibah, daughter of Nathaniel Conant, who for a few years 
was a resident of Kennebunk but removed to Alfred before 1790. 
By this marriage the children were George, Ivory, William, Francis 
A., Hepzibah, Abigail, Mehitable, Betsey and Lucy. — George mar- 
ried Olive, daughter of Maj. William Jefferds ; they had five chil- 
dren: George C., who married a daughter of Robert Waterston 
and who for a number of years was president of the Boston & Maine 
Railroad. Charles, who engaged in mercantile business in Boston; 
he married Lucy, daughter of Joseph M. Hayes, of Saco. Edward 
W., who read law and was admitted to the York County Bar ; ill 
health prevented him from pursuing the profession ; he made his 
home in Newton, Mass., and with his cultured literary taste has 
enjoyed life among his books and in the society of his friends. 
Lucy Hayes, who died in 1833, aged fifteen years, and a younger 
daughter who died at an early age. — Ivory married Louisa, only 
daughter of Capt. Hugh McCulloch; their children were: Augusta, 
who married Rev. Joseph C. Smith, of Groton, Mass.; William F. 



524 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

who married Olive, youngest daughter of Horace Porter; Louisa, 
who married Joseph Dane; John A., who married Lucy Amanda, 
youngest daughter of Alexander Warren; Elizabeth, who married 
Capt. Nathaniel L. Thompson; Olive, who married Edward W. 
Morton ; and Frederick, who died in childhood. John A. is the 
only survivor of this family; he has one daughter living, Kate M. 
Capt. Ivory was twice married ; his second wife was Mrs. William 
S. Emerson. — William married Sarah, daughter of Daniel Cleaves, 
of Biddeford; they had ten children, viz.: Sarah C, William C, 
Hartley, Robert W., George W., Daniel C, Henry C, Frederick, 
Mary C, who died when two years old, and Mary C, named for the 
former. Sarah married Capt. William Barry, of Boston ; they had 
two children, William E., architect, and Charles D., member of a 
banking firm in Boston. William C. engaged in business in Boston. 
Hartley, manufacturer, retired from active business in Boston and 
makes his home in Kennebunk; he married Sarah, only daughter of 
Isaac Hilton; they had three children: George Callender, Marion 
E. and William H. Hartley took for a second wife Julia, daughter 
of Capt. Charles C. Perkins, of Kennebunkport. Robert W., man- 
ufacturer, married Mary, daughter of Samuel Mendum ; they have 
three daughters : Sarah C, EUzabeth C. and Frances A. George 
Wells married Lucy Augusta, only child of George W, Bourne. 
Henry C. resided in Boston. Daniel C. and Frederick died early. 
Mary C. married Walter Coleman, a lawyer in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; two 
sons and a daughter survive her. — Francis A. married Frances, 
daughter of Benjamin Smith ; they left one daughter. — Hepzibah 
married Robert Waterston and removed to Boston. — Abigail mar- 
ried Charles W. Williams. — Mehitable and Betsey married Francis 
Watts.— Lucy married Hercules M. Hayes, of the firm of Waterston, 
Pray & Co. ; they removed to New York. — A very small percentage 
of the children of these marriages became, in their mature years, 
residents of Kennebunk, although many of the younger citizens can 
trace their descent, in a remote degree, to Tobias, Jr. 

Lord, Dominicus (son of Tobias, Sr.), was a blacksmith and 
served his apprenticeship with Richard Gillpatrick ; he married 
Mary, daughter of Edmund Currier, in 1784; their children were: 
Mary, Lydia, Susanna, Mehitable, Edmund, Joseph and Thomas L. 
Mary married Mark Dresser. Susanna married Elisha Chadbourne. 
Mehitable married Benaiah Littlefield. Edmund was a blacksmith; 
he died November 24, 1830, aged thirty-six years. He left one son. 
Ivory, who was a machinist. Joseph was a sailor; he died at Aux 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 525 

Caj'es, on board the brig Alliance, in 1820, at the age of fifteen 
years. Thomas L. married Lucy Currier; he was a shipmaster. 
Lydia was never married ; she lived to be ninety-five years old. 

Lord, Lydia, daughter of Tobias, Sr., married Samuel Kim- 
ball, of Alewive, son of Richard Kimball, Sr. 

Lord, Benjamin Meeds, of Kennebunkport, married Mary 
March, of Kittery. He was a justice of the peace. We have seen 
papers drawn up by him which were creditable for the time. He 
left two sons and three daughters. Benjamin married Amy Lassel 
and removed to Alewive; Susan married Samuel Burnham, of Ale- 
wive; Mary married George Perkins, who removed to this town 
from Kennebunkport. A biographical sketch of him, the particulars 
of which were furnished by his son George, will be found in the 
preceding pages. 

Lord, William, Jr., son of Nathaniel, of Kennebunkport, com- 
menced life as a seaman and rose to the position of shipmaster; he 
afterward became a shipbuilder and shipowner. At the time of his 
decease he was considered the richest man in Kennebunk. 

Lyman, Theodore, was born in York in 1753 ; he was the son 
of Rev. Isaac Lyman, the third minister of York, where he was 
ordained in 1749. He continued in the ministry until his decease, 
in 1810, having completed sixty years of ministerial labor. Theo- 
dore was a resident of Kennebunk for several years, trading in the 
village and at the Landing. Removing to Boston, he was for a long 
period one of the most successful merchants in that city in the China 
and India trade. He passed away in Waltham, Mass., May 24, 
1839, aged eighty-six years, leaving a large estate. 

Mitchell, John, was born in England, April 26, 1708. He 
was one of a family of eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
ters. Three of the sons emigrated to this country prior to 1740. 
making the town of York a temporary home. One of them settled 
in the vicinity of Boston, one in Freeport, Maine, and one, John, 
came to Kennebunk about 1740. He bought a tract of land near 
Kennebunk River, erected a two-story dwelling-house, the first of 
such imposing dimensions in the town, built a wharf near his resi- 
dence, the first on the west side of the river, and, as elsewhere 
stated, was part owner of the first vessel built on the river. He was 
prominent in town and parish affairs and an excellent man. He 
married Lydia Sewall, of York, and was the father of thirteen chil- 



526 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

dren, six of whom survived him. One of these, Jotham, born 
November 2, 1746, built the house occupied for many years by his 
grandson, Rev. William H. Mitchell, about 1769. William, a son 
of Jotham, succeeded his father in the occupation of this dwelling- 
house and the farm connected therewith. William was born in 
August, 1794, and died in February, 1874. He was one of the 
selectmen from 1846 to '48, an upright and respectable man. He 
left two sons, William H. and George E. William H. acquired an 
enviable reputation as a school-teacher and toward the latter part of 
his life ranked among the foremost of the ministers of the Second 
Advent denomination. George made his home in Lowell, Mass., 
and was the founder and sole proprietor of the " Novelty Plaster 
Works," a very extensive establishment in that city. 

Mitchell, John, the second of the name among our early 
settlers, came from York about 1755, bought one hundred and ten 
acres of land in what is known as the Cat Mousam district, together 
with several smaller lots, and was a successful farmer. He built 
the house occupied for many years by Miss Ellen Mitchell, daughter 
of the late Dea. Elisha L. Mitchell, who was a descendant of the 
fourth generation. It is supposed that this family is distantly 
related to that of John at the Port. 

Mitchell, John, the third of the name among our early set- 
tlers, came to York and thence to Wells about '1760, where he 
resided for awhile, then returned to York and later made his home 
in Canada. It is not known that there is any relationship between 
him and the Johns above named. Some particulars in reference to 
him and his descendants will be found elsewhere in this volume. 

Moody, Joseph, was one of the worthy citizens who was an 
active business man in this town during the last decade of the 
eighteenth century. He was for several years one of the represen- 
tatives of the town of Wells in the Massachusetts Legislature and was 
president of the Kennebunk Bank while it was in operation and for 
ten years was treasurer of our town. He was an upright, intelligent 
and very much respected citizen. He died July 20, 1839, seventy- 
six years of age. 

OsBORN, James, Sr., a native of Charlestown, Mass., came to 
this town in 1784, as a clerk for Tobias Lord, He had previously 
served six years in the Army of the Revolution and had been two 
years a clerk for Dr. Ivory Hovey, of Berwick. He was married to 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 527 

Nancy Lord, of Berwick, the same year that he took up his resi- 
dence here. He succeeded Prentice as a trader on Water Street 
and kept store awhile in the room in his house afterward improved 
as the post office. He was a school-teacher in this and the neigh- 
boring towns many years, an excellent teacher and a worthy man. 
In politics Mr. Osborn was decidedly a Democrat, but he was held 
in high estimation by both parties. In 1816 a register of deeds for 
York County was to be chosen. The candidates presented by both 
parties were numerous. The Federalists of Wells were of the opin- 
ion that no one among the many nominees could perform the duties 
of that office more faithfully or acceptably to the public than Mr. 
Osborn, but when the back towns were heard from it was found that 
he had lost the election by a small majority. He was postmaster 
twelve years, collector of the customs two years, an officer in the 
Artillery Company, through the different grades from second lieu- 
tenant to major, twenty-one years; a trader sixty years, most of the 
time copartner with his brother John, and during a portion of this 
term he was engaged in navigation. Mr. Osborn had four children 
John, born 1785; married, 1850, Mrs. Paulina Ford, of Limerick 
died 1861. Mary, born 1786, died 1868. Samuel L., born 1788 
married in June, 1820, Nancy Wood, of Haverhill, N. H.; she lived 
to be one hundred years of age; he died in 1857. James, born 
1793; married, 182 1, Lydia, daughter of Seth Burnham, of Kenne- 
bunkport, and, 1859, Mrs. Hannah Gillpatrick; he passed away in 
1876, leaving two daughters, Pamelia and Mary Ann. 

Parsons, John Usher, was for many years a respected and 
enterprising merchant of Kennebunk; he was born in Parsonsfield 
and returned there a short time previous to his decease, failing 
health compelling him to relinquish business. He was a State Sen- 
ator from York County in 1825. He died October 13, 1825, aged 
fifty-five years. 

Peabody. This name is said to have had its origin A, D. 61, 
in the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. There is to be found a 
printed and exhaustive genealogy of the family. Francis Peabody, 
born in England in 1614, came to Ipswich, Mass., in 1635, he after- 
ward made Topsfield, Mass., his permanent place of residence where 
he died in 1698. His son William, born in 1646, is believed to be the 
ancestor of all the Peabodys in this country; he made Boxford, 
Mass., his place of residence; he died in 1699. Seth, the great- 
grandson of William, was born in Topsfield in 1744. In early man- 



528 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

hood he went to Alfred, Maine, where he lived several years; he 
married Abigail, daughter of Thomas Kimball, of Kennebunk, in 
177 1, purchased the Thomas Kimball farm and made it his home- 
stead; he served as a private in the Continental Army during the 
whole of the Revolutionary War; he died in 1827 ; his widow passed 
away in 183 1, aged eighty years. They had four children: James, 
born in 1772, married Merriam Mitchell; they had ten children. 
Isaac, born in 1774, married Sally Shackley in 1810; they had 
seven children, Sally, born in 1784, married Richard Boothby in 
1801 ; they had several children. Seth, died unmarried. — John A. 
Peabody, son of Isaac, was born in 1818, he resided in Boston 
from the time he was eighteen years of age, making Kennebunk his 
summer home during the last few years of his life, he married 
Eliza M. Baxter, of Boston, in 1841. — Among the descendants of 
William we find the names of George Peabody, the eminent banker 
and philanthropist. Rev. A. P. Peabody, the widely known Unitarian 
clergyman, and many other men distinguished for their talents and 
usefulness. 

Perkins, George, came from Arundel about 1785. He was 
the son of Thomas Perkins, Jr., who commanded a company at the 
surrender of Louisburg in 1745, and grandson of Capt. Thomas 
Perkins, who came to Arundel from Greenland, N. H., in 1720. He 
was a trader and occupied the Larrabee store on the mill-yard 
heater. His chief motive in coming here was to purchase ship 
timber and lumber for parties on the Arundel side of Kennebunk 
River, who thought that the Mousam traders had the advantage of 
them, inasmuch as they were able to intercept the teams that came 
from the interior bringing these staples to market, and thus get the 
"first pick" and the best bargains. Perkins was an active man. 
He transacted business here two or three years, his family and home 
being in Arundel. In the meantime he built the dwelling-house now 
owned by the heirs of Christopher Littlefield, the eastern end of 
which was fitted up for a store. Here he lived and did a good busi- 
ness as a trader for about twenty years. He built two vessels at the 
"Creek," on Mousam River, Maj. Nathaniel Cousens, master work- 
man ; he also built quite a large vessel, for those days, farther down 
the river, in Butland's yard. The last-named was towed around to 
the Port, rigged, loaded with lumber, and cleared for a West India 
port in command of Capt. Benjamin Stone (Perkins's son-in-law); 
she was never heard from with certainty after she sailed from Ken- 
nebunk River. The master of a Portland brig reported, a few days 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 529 

after Captain Stone left our port, that he passed a derelict brig, 
lumber laden and apparently new, but that it was impossible to get 
suflficiently near the wreck to ascertain the name ; his description of 
the vessel was such as to leave little or no room for doubt but that it 
was Captain Perkins's. Captain Perkins was discouraged by this loss, 
he being sole owner of vessel and cargo, neither of which was 
insured. He sold his house and stock of goods to Ebenezer Curtis, 
who traded there until his death. Perkins bought one hundred and 
five acres of land situated on both sides of the Alfred road and 
bounded on the south by the Mile Spring Creek and the road leading 
by Peabody and Shackley to Ross's. He erected a dwelling-house 
on the lot now occupied by the heirs of the late David Drawbridge. 
He married Mary Lord, of Arundel, whom he survived. He left 
three sons, Ezra, George and Clement, also several daughters. 

After the death of Captain Perkins his homestead was divided, 
George taking the main building, which he removed to the west side 
of the road, and the land lying on that side. Ezra took the land on 
the east side of the road, fitted up the L for a residence and lived 
there many years. He sold the dwelling-house and a small lot of 
land adjoining to David Drawbridge and purchased the dwelling- 
house in the village known as the Hodsdon house, where he resided 
until his death, January 23, 1874, aged eighty-one years. He was 
one of the selectmen of the town for several years. He had one 
son, Benjamin, and two daughters, Eliza and Mary. 

George was a trader and occupied one of the small stores 
between Storer's "long store" and the mill yard. He married the 
widow of George Jefferds in February, 1827 ; he lived awhile in the 
house afterward owned by Daniel Durrell, and for eighteen months 
or until he took possession of his farm near Mile Spring, on the 
Fletcher place. He carried on his farm until advanced years and 
the infirmities incident to old age induced him to relinquish work 
and take up his abode with his son Daniel, at whose home he died 
the second of June, 1882, aged ninety-three years and four months; 
his wife passed away several years previously. The author obtained 
from Mr. Perkins from time to time many of the facts relating to 
early residents, old buildings and other matters of interest embodied 
in this work. 

Clement, in his boyhood, was apprenticed to Benjamin Smith 
to learn the baker's trade. Having a strong predilection for a sea- 
man's life, he obtained Mr. Smith's consent that he should ship as 
cook on board a vessel bound to the West Indies and thereafter his 



530 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

occupation was that of a mariner; after passing through the several 
grades of seamanship he attained the position of captain. An 
account of his murder by pirates, in the Caribbean Sea, will be 
found elsewhere in this volume. 

Perkins, Oliver, of this town, a mariner by profession, was 
an active, intelligent young man. He was a private in the Kenne- 
bunk Artillery Company, and while in the act of loading one of the 
fieldpieces at the funeral service of Maj. William Frost, who had 
died in Sanford and was interred with military honors on the twenty- 
eighth of December, 182 1, was sadly mutilated in consequence of 
the premature explosion of a cartridge. Mr. Perkins lost both arms 
and one of his eyes and was otherwise injured ; one of his hands 
and an arm were found about twenty rods from the cannon ; both 
arms were amputated and for a long time his recovery was consid- 
ered extremely doubtful. He had been married a few years and 
had two sons and a daughter. He fully recovered his health and 
lived many years after the accident, and notwithstanding his maimed 
condition was an active citizen. Samuel Perkins, of New York, 
and the late Oliver Perkins, of West Kennebunk, were his sons, and 
Mrs. Marshall Lowell his daughter. 

Sevvall, Daniel, was born in York March 28, 1755; he mar- 
ried Dorcas, daughter of John H. Bartlett, of Kittery, about 1780. 
He removed to this town in 1815, at which time he held the offices 
of register of the Probate Court and clerk of the Supreme Judicial 
Court, the records of both of which he brought with him, and they 
were kept here, in his dwelling-house, until 1820, when George 
Thacher, Jr. (son of Judge George Thacher), of Biddeford, received 
the appointment of Register of Probate from the new State Govern- 
ment, and the records of this court were removed to the fireproof 
building in Alfred. Mr. Sewall held this position thirty-seven years 
and that of clerk of the Common Pleas from 1792 to 1797. He had 
previously been eleven years an assistant to the clerk of the Court of 
Common Pleas and, it is said, while thus employed received one 
shilling (about twenty-five cents) per day for his labor, working each 
day from sunrise to sunset. He was clerk of the Supreme Court from 
1797 to 18 19, at which date we think that he resigned the office and 
was succeeded by his son, William B. In 1820 Jeremiah Bradbury, 
then of York (a native of Saco), was appointed clerk and the records 
were removed to Alfred, and the clerk was required to be a perma- 
nent resident of the town where the fireproof building was located. 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 5B1 

Mr. Sewall also held the office of postmaster of York from 1792 to 
1807. He was a faithful public officer, a man of the strictest integ- 
rity, and an excellent citizen, public-spirited, liberal and always 
ready to assist in any measure that promised to promote the public 
good. His records, while register and clerk, were models of neat- 
ness and accuracy. He held many municipal and local offices in 
this town. He was town treasurer from 183 1 to 1837, and was fre- 
quently chosen a member of important town committees. He was 
for several years clerk of the Social Library Association; when first 
elected he found that the records had been neglected and that con- 
flicting claims to the ownership of its shares were not unfrequent ; 
with much labor he traced the transfers that had been made by 
shareholders from the organization of the association to the then 
present time, and made a list of original, intermediate and then 
present owners, the correctness of which was never disputed. As 
clerk of the proprietors of the old burying-ground (near the Unita- 
rian Church), the records of which he also found in an imperfect 
state, he made a plan of the ground as originally laid out and ascer- 
tained (so far as it was possible to do so) the names of the owners 
of the several lots within its bounds, and this plan has, to the pres- 
ent time, always been regarded as decisive authority in determining 
all questions that have arisen respecting the ownership of lots. 
One can hardly conceive the amount of time and research required 
for this work, inasmuch as in many of the lots interments had been 
made where there were no headstones with descriptive inscriptions 
and no known descendants from whom information could be 
obtained. Still, in most of these cases, facts were gathered from 
various sources which enabled him to solve all doubts respecting 
them; only a small number were left to be marked "unknown." 
As a parish officer his services were invaluable ; he was clerk of the 
First Congregational Society for many years, and its records for 
these years show methodical arrangement and evidence of untiring 
perseverance in collecting and recording facts that had not previ- 
ously been noticed but which were worthy of preservation. 

Mr. Sewall was regarded by distinguished scientific men of his 
time as remarkably well versed in the science of meteorology, and 
barometrical and thermometrical records and observations furnished 
by him may be found in many scientific works published between 
the years 1800 and 1840. Barometrical tables made by him during 
the years 1837 and '38 were published entire in Doctor Jackson's 
annual reports on the Geology of Maine for those years respectively. 



532 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

He furnished thermometrical tables to the Kainebunk Gazette, monthly, 
for several years, which were considered very valuable. He also 
attained high rank as a mathematician. As a pastime, rather than 
with the expectation of fame or profit, he prepared and published 
an Almanac annually for a few years while a resident of York. 

In his religious views Mr. Sewall was a decided Unitarian, and 
in this particular, we think, was the first of the family, ancestral or 
contemporary, who embraced this faith. He was a deacon of the 
church of the First Congregational Society in Kennebunk as well 
as one of the assessors of the parish for many years, and was always 
deeply interested in the prosperity of the society. His character 
was irreproachable ; he was a useful and an upright citizen, a pro- 
fessor of religion whose daily life bore witness to his sincerity. 

Mr. James K. Remich, in 1828, printed for a Boston house an 
edition of five thousand copies of the " New England Primer," which 
was then nearly out of print. Mr. Sewall was in the printing office 
when the proof reader was examining the proof sheet of the first 
half part of the book and suggested the expediency of making some 
changes in the "Assembly's Catechism " by omitting words and sen- 
tences that were "behind the times." The publisher was consulted 
and expressed his entire willingness that the proposed alteration 
should be made, inasmuch as it was distinctly stated that it was not 
desired to make any additions to the text. Mr. Sewall furnished 
the copy for an "expurgated edition." It happened that a number 
of copies were purchased for the Sunday-school of a society in 
Wells, the omissions were discovered by the clergyman, and com- 
munications were at once sent to the Portland Mirror and Boston 
Recorder, warning the public to beware of the publication. This led 
to a spirited newspaper controversy, conducted by the Wells clergy- 
man, as assailant, through the columns of the papers above named, 
and by Mr. Sewall, as defendant, through the columns of the Kenne- 
bunk Gazette. This controversy caused a rapid sale of the first 
revised edition of the "Primer" and a second edition (five thousand 
copies) was ordered by the publisher within a month after the first 
had been brought into notice. With the public generally the affair 
produced more merriment than bitterness, and several evangelical 
clergymen expressed the opinion that "the old catechism was none 
the worse for the pruning." 

Sewall, William Bartlett, the only son of Daniel Sewall, 
was born in York in 1782, graduated at Harvard in 1803, studied law, 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 533 

was admitted to the bar in 1806, and was for a few years a partner 
with Chief Justice Mellen, In 1816 he married Betsey Cross, of Port- 
land, and about two years later removed to Kennebunk, where he 
occupied the Nathaniel Frost house. The failing health of his wife 
induced him to return to Portland, where her mother resided, but 
his wife survived this removal only a few months; she died in 1819. 
Shortly after her decease Mr. Sewall returned to Kennebunk and, 
as a filial duty, became a member of his father's family. Here he 
assisted his father in his official labors and opened an office for the 
practice of law. He was clerk of the Supreme Court for York County 
for about a year, 1819-20, his father having resigned that position. 
In 1823 he again returned to Portland to take charge of the edito- 
rial department of the Portland Advertiser, which he conducted for 
several years with signal ability. Relinquishing this position in 
1837, he again returned to Kennebunk and opened an office here. 
He served several years as one of the superintending school com- 
mittee of the town and was a very efficient member of the board. 
In 1839 the nomination for representative to Congress, by the Whig 
County Convention, was believed by a large majority of the mem- 
bers of the party in Kennebunk to be one "unfit to be made," and 
they declined to support it. Mr. Sewall was selected as their can- 
didate on the day of election. No effort was made to obtain outside 
aid in the movement ; with very little effort he would unquestionably 
have received very nearly all the votes thrown in opposition to the 
regular nomination, and they were many throughout the county. 

Mr. Sewall inherited his father's fondness for mathematical and 
meteorological studies. He too published an Almanac, annually, 
for several years and was the principal in the preparation of the 
first published Register of Maine, about 1820. His Almanac did 
not meet with the success it merited, the chief objection to it being 
that the space usually devoted to weather predictions was occupied 
with humorous remarks respecting occurrences that might be looked 
for during the several months in the year ; by a larger number of 
persons than would generally be imagined this was regarded as an 
inexcusable offense ; "it contained nothing that would enable one 
to make calculations as to the best days for washing, cleaning 
house, having company or going abroad," and the like. 

His scholarship was of a high order. The productions of his 
pen, in prose and in verse, both of which he wrote easily and grace- 
fully, were always chaste and polished, evincing uncommon intellec- 
tual culture as well as thoughtfulness, guided by soundness of mind 



534 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

and purity of heart. As a conversationist, although remarkably 
modest and unassuming, few excelled him. Whether the subject 
was one that brought into exercise his scientific knowledge or his 
familiarity with the works of the best authors in almost every depart- 
ment of literature, his remarks were always listened to with marked 
attention ; or whether the occasion was one when wit, jest, anecdote 
and personal recollections of laughable incidents were expected, he 
was foremost among the contributors to the hilarity of the hour. 
He was emphatically "a gentleman of the old school," affable, 
courteous, kind-hearted, an excellent citizen, an exemplary and an 
honest man. 

January 26, 1841, Mr. Sewall married, for his second wife, 
Maria Moody, daughter of Richard Gillpatrick, with whom he lived 
very happily until the close of his life. He died March 4, 1869, at 
the age of eighty-six years, leaving no children. 

Storer, Joseph, came to Wells from Dover, N. H., when he 
was thirteen years of age. His father was William Storer, who was 
a son of Augustine (one of the "Exeter combination") whose sister, 
Maria, married Rev. John Wheelwright. Joseph's father died in 
Dover, in 1660; his widow married Samuel Austin, of Wells, the 
following year, when she removed to Wells, taking her children with 
her. Joseph was active and intelligent as a boy, energetic and 
shrewd as a business man, and a valable citizen in every respect. 
He obtained from the town and the "proprietors" many grants of 
land and, as a copartner, grants of mill privileges on Little River. 
He married Hannah, daughter of Roger Hill, in 1677 ; he died in 
1720, aged eighty- two years, leaving a widow and eight children. 
He was regarded as the richest man in Wells at the time of his 
decease, being in possession of real and personal property valued at 
five thousand dollars. His large landed property in Kennebunk 
appears to have fallen into the hands of his widow and his son John, 
born September 5, 1694, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph 
Hill, in 1722. To him and his father-in law were granted the three 
hundred acres of land and the water power on the Mousam origi- 
nally granted to Sayword, and they built a saw-mill and perhaps a 
grist-mill on the site of Sayword's in 1730. " Storer's garrison in 
Wells," so often referred to as the refuge of fugitives from Indian 
atrocities, was built by his father soon after the commencement of 
the Indian Wars and continued to be maintained as an effective 
stronghold under the management of his son to their close. John 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 535 

was distinguished for his bravery, patriotism and open-handed 
benevolence. He was at the taking of Louisburg, C. B., in 1745. 
His valuable services to his townsmen and unfortunates driven from 
their homes in other places can scarcely be overestimated. He left 
six children, viz. : Hannah, born September 13, 1723 ; Joseph, born 
May 17, 1725; John, born April 28, 1727; Elizabeth, born April 
14, 1729, married a Mr. Littlefield, of Wells; she passed away May 
31, 1823, in the ninety-fifth year of her age and was the last surviv- 
ing child of Colonel Storer; Bellamy, born May 27, 1731, died 
early. A daughter and a son Samuel were born later. Joseph, the 
eldest son, continued his father's business in Kennebunk and in 
1757 became a resident of the Second Parish, the first of the name 
who made it his permanent home. He married Hannah March, of 
Greenland, N. H., in 1753. He built the small, one-story house 
that stood just above the larger dwelling-house on Storer Street 
belonging originally to the Storer estate, where he lived with his 
family and also kept a country store for a few years, afterward 
building and residing in the mansion and improving the whole of 
the small building as a store. Mr. Storer was enterprising and 
judicious as a business man. When the Revolutionary struggle 
came on he proved himself " a whole-souled patriot "; he entered 
the service in 1777 as colonel of a Regiment of Infantry, but shortly 
afterward was taken sick at Albany, N. Y., and died at the age of 
fifty-one years. He left two sons, Joseph and Clement, who inher- 
ited their father's large landed property, mill, etc. Joseph 
remained in Kennebunk, but Clement took up his residence in 
Portsmouth, N. H., from which city he never removed ; he was a phy- 
sician of respectable standing. Joseph and Clement never made a 
division of the estate, except that, as lot after lot was sold, the money 
received was equally divided between them. Timber and wood 
land which to-day would bring from one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty dollars per acre they sold for from twenty to twenty-five 
dollars per acre, and village lots proportionally low; still they 
were complained of as extortioners and oppressors! Joseph was not 
a brilliant man, intellectually, and in business pursuits he was not 
successful. He was a farmer, storekeeper and mill man for many 
years; he also succeeded Barnard as postmaster, which oflSce he 
retained until his appointment as collector of the customs, in 1810, 
which situation he held several years and from which he derived a 
very handsome income. In 1808 he married Priscilla Cutts, of 
Portsmouth, N. H. She was a descendant of John Cutts, of Ports- 



536 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

mouth, who was the first President of New Hampshire, under the 
royal government established in that colony, in 1680, by commission 
from King Charles II. He held the office one year only. Mr. 
Cutts was a merchant; he had acquired a large property and was 
one of the aristocracy of the time. He became the owner of John 
Sanders's entire estate, in 1662 or '63, at what is now known as 
Hart's Beach, which was held by himself and his heirs for many 
years. Madam Storer was pretty, intelligent and very ladylike in 
her manners ; she had been brought up in the style and with the 
notions of the "first families" and was disposed to maintain in her 
new home the position that she had enjoyed among her kindred. 
Her husband heartily seconded all her aspirations in this direction, 
and it thus came about that in process of time he lost the distinc- 
tion, several years held and unwillingly relinquished, of being the 
"highest taxpayer in town." Mr. Storer was unpopular, but we 
think not deservedly so; he was patriotic, good-hearted and liberal, 
and Madam Storer was an excellent woman, possessing those noble 
qualities of kindness, benevolence and purity of character which far 
outweighed unimportant peculiarities attained in childhood, but 
never obtrusively exhibited. Mr. Storer died in 1833, in the seven- 
ty-seventh year of his age. His widow removed to Virginia, where 
some relatives resided; she died in i860, in the eighty-seventh year 
of her age. The homestead subsequently became the property and 
summer residence of Mr. Charles Parsons, of New York. 

Taylor, William, came to Wells (Harriseeket), as near as can 
be ascertained, as early as 1665 ; he was doubtless the first with 
this surname in Wells and was the ancestor of all the Taylors in 
Wells and Lyman. He was the father of Joseph, who married 
about 1690 and to whom the families of that name in this vicinity 
trace their lineage. He was probably the great-grandfather of 
William, so often mentioned in this volume, who was the son of 
Col. John Taylor. Colonel Taylor was one of the most respectable 
inhabitants among the early settlers of the town; he died July 3, 
1822, aged eighty-five years. 

Thacher, Stephen, of whose industry, enterprise and official 
positions we have spoken at considerable length in preceding pages, 
came to this town in 1803 and engaged in trade. He was born in 
Lebanon, Conn.; he was a graduate of Yale College of the class of 
1795, which numbered thirty-three members and in which he sus- 
tained a high rank. For several years subsequently to his leaving 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 537 

college Mr. Thacher pursued the occupation of a teacher, first at 
Springfield, Mass., where he studied divinity with Rev. Dr. Howard, 
and afterward taught school and preached at Suffield, Conn., and at 
Beverly and Barnstable, Mass. His health failing, he was compelled 
to relinquish teaching and also his ministerial labors. He then took 
up his residence in Kennebunk. In 1804 he was married to Har- 
riet, a daughter of Esaias Preble, of York, and a sister of the late 
Judge Preble, of Portland. They had two sons, George, and Peter, 
counselor at law in company with his son, under the firm name of 
Peter and Stephen Thacher, in Boston. After his marriage a maiden 
aunt, Abigail Thacher, became an inmate of his family, where she 
continued to reside until her death, in 18 13, at the age of ninety 
years. Her remains were interred in the cemetery near the Unita- 
rian Church. Judge Thacher was an active and ardent politician of 
the Jeffersonian school. In 18 18 he was appointed by President 
Monroe collector of Passamaquoddy, when he removed to Lubec; 
he held the office of collector for twelve years, until 1830. Mrs. 
Thacher died in Lubec in 1849. 1" 1^56 he went to Rockland to 
make his home with a son, where he passed away, at an advanced 
age, in 1859. 

Thomas, Joseph, came to Kennebunk in 1792 and was always 
a highly respected citizen. He was one of the representatives from 
Wells (while Kennebunk was part of that town) for several years ; 
he held the office of chief justice of the Court of Sessions for York 
County for many years and was one of the selectmen of Wells for a 
number of years prior to 1820. He was regarded as a very able 
counselor at law and at the time of his decease was president of the 
York County Bar. He died on the twentieth day of January, 1830, 
aged sixty-seven years. 

TiTCOMB. The Titcomb families in Kennebunk trace their 
ancestry to William Titcomb, who came to this country from England 
about 1636 and was among the earliest settlers of Newbury, Mass. 
He was twice married and left fifteen children. He was a promi- 
nent man in the settlement. His son William was born in 1659 and 
died in 1740. Joseph, son of William, Jr., was born in 1698 and died 
in 1779. Benjamin, the son of Joseph, was born in 1726 and died 
in 1779. He was at the battle of Louisburg and on his return set- 
tled in Portland; he was a blacksmith and was industrious and 
prosperous. His son Benjamin was born in 1761 and died in 1848; 
he was a printer, and on the "first day of January, 1785, he struck off 



538 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

with his own hands, in the town of Portland, the first sheet ever 
printed in Maine, the Fahfiouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser ^ He 
afterward became a clergyman and was settled in Brunswick, Me. 
Stephen Titcomb, son of Joseph above named, was born in New- 
buryport, Mass., and was quite young when his father died; his 
mother, a few years later, married Henry Sewall, "the first immi- 
grant of the name," of York. Stephen was an inmate of his family 
until about the time that he made Kennebunk his home, which, it is 
believed, was as early as 1746, when he purchased land on and near 
Kennebunk River. (Facts respecting his dwelling-house, etc., will 
be found elsewhere in this volume.) We think that he was better 
provided with pecuniary means than the majority of our pioneers ; he 
was a loaner of money and we have seen evidence that, as mort- 
gagee, his conduct was often liberal and honorable. He married 
Abigail Stone, of North Yarmouth, in 1748. They had seven chil- 
dren : Joseph, Benjamin, Stephen, Sarah, Abigail, Sarah and John, 
Of these only one became a permanent resident of Kennebunk. 
Mr. Titcomb was one of the selectmen of Wells in 1777 and '78. 
He died in 1815, aged ninety-three years. He was an exemplary 
and valuable citizen. 

Joseph, the eldest son of Stephen, purchased land in Alewive 
(now the homestead acres of Benjamin Titcomb) about 1775, but 
died before he had made much progress in the work of bringing 
any considerable portion of his land under cultivation; we do not 
know whether or not he had commenced the erection of a dwelling- 
house. Benjamin, the second son, then came into possession of the 
tract of land purchased by Joseph, and erected (or completed) a 
dwelling-house, and converted a goodly portion of its upland and 
lowland into "grass, tillage and pasture." He was thrice married 
and had six children by his first wife (Mary Burnham) and two by 
his second wife (Hannah Bragdon). He was one of the selectmen 
of Wells twenty-four years, from 1787 to 1811. Mr. Titcomb was a 
worthy and respected citizen. At his decease he was succeeded on 
the farm by his eldest son, Benjamin, who married Molly Water- 
house, October 27, 1808. Three children were born ±0 them : Ben- 
jamin Franklin, Sarah and Abigail. Mr. Titcomb was chairman of 
the first board of selectmen in Kennebunk and for many years was 
deacon of the Unitarian Church. Under his careful management 
the farm was much improved. Benjamin Franklin succeeded to the 
ownership of the property, to which he added many acres, and near 
the old homestead lot he erected a new and handsome dwelling- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



539 



house and other buildings. Mr. Titcomb was one of the selectmen 
of this town from 187 1 to '74 inclusive. He well maintained the 
respectable standing of his ancestry. His son, Benjamin F., is now 
in possession of the estate. 

James, the second son of Benjamin, St., was an inmate of the 
family of his grandfather, Stephen Titcomb, during the larger part 
of his minority and inherited a good property. He commenced his 
business life as a trader in the village, but later removed to the 
Landing, where he engaged in shipbuilding, became a ship- 
owner and was quite successful. He was one of the selectmen from 
1828 to '30 inclusive. He married Abigail Durrell, of Kennebunk- 
port. Their children were Joseph, George P., William and Lucy. 
Mr. Titcomb was an enterprising citizen and a man of strict integ- 
rity. Joseph, like his father, was for a number of years a ship- 
builder and a shipowner in company with Col. William L. Thomp- 
son; their building yard was at the Lower Village. Mr. Titcomb 
was one of the selectmen in 185 1 and '52 and again served from 
1883 to '85 inclusive; he was a member of the House of Representa- 
tives in 1853 and of the Senate in 1850 to '52 ; he also held the office 
of bank commissioner for a time. He married Mary Ann, daughter 
of William W. Wise ; they had two children, Agnes and William. 
George P., the son of James, was also a shipbuilder and noted for 
his mechanical skill and business capacity. He was one of the 
selectmen two years and represented the town in the lower branch 
of the Maine Legislature in 1856. William died in early manhood. 
Lucy married James M. Stone ; they have three children, two sons 
and a daughter. 

Joseph, youngest son of Benjamin Titcomb, Sr., spent several 
years of his minority as a clerk in the store of Richard Gillpatrick. 
He afterward engaged in business in Boston, and later in New 
York. He died in Kennebunkport. 

Wallingford, George W., came to this town about 1800 and 
opened an office for the practice of law. He was a son of Captain 
Wallingford, of Somersworth, N. H., who commanded a company in 
a New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution; he was 
killed on the field of battle during an engagement with the British. 
The widow of Captain Wallingford and the mother of George W. 
married Col, Amos Cogswell, of Dover, who was in the Revolution- 
ary Army from its commencement to its close. George W. died 
January 19, 1824, in the forty-ninth year of his age. An obituary 



540 HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 

notice of Mr. Wallingford concludes thus: "The State has lost a 
firm patriot, whose talents were equaled only by his undeviating 
integrity and unshaken firmness; the county has lost the first orna- 
ment of its forum, its ablest advocate and most profound counselor, 
and the town one of its best citizens." 

Wells. Thomas Wells came from England in 1635 ^'^d set- 
tled in Ipswich, Mass., where he lived until 1657, when he removed 
to the town of Wells and bought of William Symands his dwelling- 
house and farm. Nathaniel, the great-grandson of Thomas, was a 
prominent and valuable citizen of Wells; he held the commission of 
justice of the peace for the county of York for many years and was 
an efficient and upright magistrate; he was elected clerk of the 
town in 1740, and thereafter until his death, in 1776, at the age of 
seventy-one years, was annually re-elected to the office. 

Nathaniel Wells, usually spoken of as Judge Wells, son of the 
above named, was born in 1740. He graduated at Cambridge Uni- 
versity in 1759, and for the six years following his graduation found 
employment as an instructor of youth. At the end of this period he 
returned to Wells, at the request of his father, and thenceforward, 
during his lifetime, was an active, useful and honored citizen of the 
town. He was one of the board of selectmen eleven years, from 
1770 to 1781 inclusive, when he declined a re-election; he held the 
office of town clerk forty years, from 1776 to 1816; in 1779 he was 
chosen a delegate to the convention, held at Cambridge, for framing 
a State Constitution ; he represented the town in the lower branch 
of the State Legislature from 1781 to '84 inclusive, and was one 
of the senators of York County from 1785 to 1801 ; in 1789 he was 
chosen a delegate, by the town of Wells, to the important conven- 
tion held in Boston "for the purpose of considering the Constitution 
of the United States." From 1774 until his decease, in 1816, he 
held a commission as justice of the peace; in 1781 he was commis- 
sioned by Governor Hancock as a special justice of the Inferior 
Court; in 1786 he was appointed a justice of the Court of Common 
Pleas and in 1799 was made chief justice of that court, which posi- 
tion he held until 1811 ; for seventeen years — from 1784 to 1801 — 
he was one of the committee for the sale of eastern lands belonging 
to the State. 

We derive the foregoing facts and figures from a full and very 
carefully written obituary notice of Judge Wells, which was pub- 
lished in the Visiter of the twenty-first and twenty-eighth of Decern- 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 541 

ber, 1816, and from a genealogical record of the Wells family 
published a few years ago in pamphlet form. 

All the duties and labors required of Judge Wells by the 
numerous and highly honorable as well as responsible official posi- 
tions conferred upon him by his townsmen, the people of York 
County and executives of Massachusetts were invariably performed 
with promptness, fidelity and unquestioned ability. As a member 
of the important conventions for framing a Constitution for the 
State of Massachusetts and for the examination and consideration 
of the Constitution of the United States, his opinions and sugges- 
tions were listened to with marked attention by his colleagues ; his 
judicial decisions were regarded as sound ; as a legislator he recog- 
nized his obligation to seek for the "greatest good of the greatest 
number," and in municipal affairs his counsel was always judicious 
and seldom or never unheeded. 

The town of Wells was never deficient in men of sterling patri- 
otism, of intelligence and of true nobleness of character, but for its 
high political standing at the State Capital and elsewhere during 
the Revolution, and the troublous times preceding and succeeding 
that period, it was indebted to the brain work so remarkably and so 
opportunely performed by Doctor Hemmenway and Judge Wells ; 
in letters to committees of correspondence and in reports to their 
townsmen on vitally important questions which demanded the atten- 
tion of the people and concerning which it was desirable that they 
should, in their corporate capacity, express their views, we find 
proofs of sound learning, deep reflection and devotion to the coun- 
try's best interests. Hemmenway and Wells did not live in vain; 
they wrought faithfully and wisely in the field whereon it was 
appointed that they should labor. For their words and deeds, so 
widespread and beneficent in their influence, their names should be 
held in grateful remembrance. 

Whitney, Daniel, came to this village from the western part 
of Wells about 1805. We infer that he was a native of Biddeford 
and served his apprenticeship as a boot and shoemaker there. He 
married Susanna Carleton, of Wells, September 16, 1805 ; they had 
six children: Leonard, jeweler, moved to Philadelphia, where he 
passed away. Harriet, married W. Chase, of Bradford, Mass. 
Horace, tinsmith, was the principal of the " Dover Manufacturing 
Company," an extensive establishment for the manufacture of tin 
and wire household implements; he also kept a hardware store in 



542 



HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK. 



that city for several years; he afterward removed to Cambridge, 
Mass., where he passed away about 1886; he accumulated a large 
property. Ambrose resided in Boston. Susan married a Mr. Fox, 
of Portland, and Ralph also made his home in the same city. 



INDEX 



Academical School, 248. 
Academy, 214, 369. 

Union, incorporated, 490 ; de- 
stroyed by fire, 494. 
Adams, John, 327. 

Samuel (York), 417. 
Rev. T. P., 328. 
Adjutant, George W., 504. 

Plummer A., 499. 
Advent Society, 331. 
Agamenticus, town of, founded, 
6-12; Gorges mansion house 
built at, 7, 8; incorporated 
as Gorgeana, 9; renamed 
York, 12. 
Alewive, first settler of, 123; early 
settlers of, 176; vessel built 
at and hauled to the sea, 
125, 436; school district, 482. 
Brook, 45, 55, 81, 84. 
Pond, 82. 

Road, log schoolhouse on, 481. 
Alfred, incorporated, 66, 187; peti- 
tion for highway to, 161; 
made shire town, 184; peti- 
tion for court to be held at, 
184; courthouse built at, 186- 
195; office of county treas- 
urer moved to, 186; fireproof 
building erected at, 187; 
printing office established at, 
190; jail built at, 186, 195; 
political celebrations at, 219, 
229, 287, 302, 307; Unitarian 
Church bell heard at, 311; 
mail route established to, 405. 
Street (Fletcher), laid out, 242. 
Allen, Elisha (Sanford), 230, 468. 
Ephraim, 116. 
Lewis, 44. 



Allen, Rev. Stephen, 328. 
Susanna, 203. 
William C. (Alfred), 379. 

Allodian Society, 243. 

American Express Company, office 
of, 365. 

Anderson, John (Wiscasset), 220. 

Andrews, Emory, 367. 
Ralph, 48. 

Annals of the Times, 212, 2.14. 

Annis, Abraham, 185. i/^ 
Stephen, 152. 

Appleton, General (Portland), 307. 
Nathan D. (Alfred), 302, 306. 

Arcadians, 106. 

Artillery Company, 209, 238, 468, 
472, 527, 530. 
Of volunteers defend seacoast 
and harbor, 258. 

Arundel, petition of, 187 ; Cape 
Porpus reincorporated as, 
198; patriotic celebration at, 
219; census of, in 1810, 221; 
male adults of, 239; school- 
house burned at and reward 
offered for firebug, 239; de- 
fended by Artillery Compa- 
ny, 2.58; citizens participate 
in Presidential Celebration, 
264; number of votes cast 
for separation from Massa- 
chusetts, 283; petition of, to 
be called Kennebunk, name 
changed to Kennebunkport, 
293; population, polls and 
valuation in 1820, 294. 
Circuit, 329. 

Assembly Hall, 357. 

Assessors' office, notice of, 252. 

Atkinson, Lawyer (Dover, N. H.), 
186. 



Augusta, 194, 436. 
Austin, Samuel, 35. 182, 534. 
Austin's Tavern, 182. 
Averill, Joseph, 126. 

Badger, Samuel, 224. 

Badlam, Mr., artist, 422. 

Baker, Joseph, 340. 

Bald Head, Bark Isadora wrecked 

on, 394. 
Ballou, Rev. George W., 328. 
Banks, Jonathan, 150, 151, 358, 360. 

Mary, 361. 
Baptist Church, Calvinist (Alewive), 
324; (Lyman), 325; Village 
Church dedicated 326, re- 
modeled 327; site of, 335. 
Calvinist, Association, Union 

Academy under, 490. 
Meeting House (York), Coch- 

ranites hold forth in, 414. 
Society, Freewill (Lyman), 325; 
Village, 330. 
Bark Horace, mutiny of crew and 
wreck of, 392. 
Isadora, wreck of, 394. 
Barker, B. F., 302. 

Capt. John, 355. 
Barnard, Joseph, 105, 484. 

Rachel, 410. 
Barnard's Pasture, 122, 236, 356, 
478, 521. 
Tavern, 212, 223, 226, 333, 410, 
446. 
Barnes, Abraham, 150. 
Barney, William R., 510. 
Barren, Olive, 115. 
Barrett, John, Jr., 50. 
Barron, Rev. Oliver, 306. 
Barrows, Rev. Lewis, 326. 
Barry, Charles D., 339, 524. 
Capt. William, 524. 
William E., Ill, 339, 524. 
Bartlett, Dorcas, B80. 

Ichabod (Portsmouth), 306. 
John H., 336, 346, 432, 530. 
Oliver, 346, 356, 415, 419, 420. 
William, 370, 415, 416, 419. 
Bartlett's Mills, 43. 



Barton, Hull, religious fanatic, 278. 

Bascom, Rev. Mr., 318. 

Basset, Thomas, negro, 108. 

Bates, John, 48. 

Batson, Stephen, 20. 

Baxter Bible, 477. 

Bayridge, Ebenezer, 61. 

Beam House, 333, 343. 

Bearce, Isaac R., 90. 

Bell rung for each day of the 

month, 311. 
Bellamy, Susanna, 124. 
Bennet, Elder Leonard, 329. 

William (Sanford), 186. 
Bennett, Charles, 501. 
Berdeen, Lois, 361. 
Berwick, 105, 121, 156, 183, 220, 
226, 236, 433. 
Attacked by Indians, 56. 
Betts, Elijah, 382, 471. 
Biddeford, District of, 172; petition 
for courthouse, 187; census 
in 1810, 221; President Mon- 
roe breakfasted at, 265; del- 
egation from at County Con- 
vention, 304; embraced in 
Arundel Circuit, 329; freshet 
overflows banks of river at, 
435; General Lafayette es- 
corted to, 471. 
Pool, first inhabitant at, 4; out- 
rage of British sailors at, 257. 
Woods, sign on log cabin in, 
429. 
Billeton, Elisha, 62. 
Black House, 353. 

Point, 13. 
Blacksmith's shop purchased with 

brass mounted clock, 208. 
Blaisdell, Captain, 393. 
Jacob, 110, 150, 179. 
Moses, 179. 
Blockhouse, 58, 69, 71. 
Blood, Joshua, 236, 370. 
Blue Point, 13. 
Boad, Henry, 17, 77. 
Bodwell, John W., 347, 415, 421, 

474. 
Bolles, Joseph, 28, 86, 87. 



Bonithon, Richard, 7, 8. 
Book, first one of importance 
printed in this country, 477. 
Bookstore, first in town, 339. 
Boom Brook, 83. 
Boon Island, 391. 
Boothby, Henry, 87. 

John, Jr., L50. 

Mabel, 359. 

Olive, 352. 

Richard, 76, 100, 204; biogra- 
phy of, 509. 

Thomas, 76, 80, 132, 510. 
Boothby's Beach, 24, 121; Bark 

Horace grounded on, 392. 
Boston, Calvin, 501. 

Daniel, 81. 

Shubull, 125. 

Thomas, 197. 

& Maine Depot, 365. 

Port Bill, 140. 

Stage Route, 106. 
Bourn, Isaac, 185. 

John, 69. 

Joseph, 185. 
Bourne, Aaron, 385. 

Edward E., 113, 253, 266, 320, 
347, 3.57, 448-450, 460, 510. 

Edward E., Jr., 335, 345, 347, 
.358, 453. 

George, 510. 

Dr. George, 252, 335. 

George W., 382, 411, 415. 524. 

Herbert, 335. 

Israel W., 214, 369, 413, 448, 510. 

John, 83, 510. 

John, Jr., 134, 152, 226, 382, 
411, 510. 

Mrs Captain John, household 
manufacturer, 221. 

Julia A., 510. 

Lucy Augusta, 524. 

OHve L., 510. 

Thomas, 510. 

Maj. William, 474. 
Bowdoin, James, 154. 
Bowling Alley, 262. 
Bowman, Rev. Mr., 452. 
Boyce, Rev. John, 326. 



Bradbury, Capt. Charles, author of 
History of Kennebunkport, 
2, 444, 467. 

Jacob, 161. 

Jeremiah, 195, 226, 423, 530. 

Theophilus, 185. 
Bradley, Samuel (Hollis), 301, 302. 
Bragdon, A. W., 245. 

Enoch, 109, 110. 

Rev. F. A., 328. 

Hannah, 538. 

John, 131, 152, 488. 

Capt. Joseph, 79, 153. 

Mary, 79. 

Nathaniel, 109. 

Nathaniel, Jr., 110. 

Samuel, 131, 488. 

Samuel, Jr., 354. 
Bragg, Samuel, Jr. (Dover, N. H.), 

432. 
Bramley, Thomas, 246, 251, 357. 
Branch River, 103, 104. 
Brandy Brook, 197. 
Braveboat Harbor, 196. 
Brickyards, 122, 236, 251, 521. 
Bridges, Jotham, 207. 
Brig Atlas boarded by runaway 

slaves, 386. 
Brooks, Erastus (Portland), 306. 

Gilbert, 92. 

Governor, 209. 

One, Two, Three, Four Mile, 
197. 
Brown, Benjamin, 334, 336, 368, 483. 

Charles, 501. 

Davids., 372, 373. 

Edward, 104. 

Henry, 38, 196. 

Rev. H. H., 331. 

Jeremiah, 372. 

Capt. John, 162. 

JohnT., 177. 

Rev. Joseph (Alfred), 219. 

Joseph S., 499. 

Joseph T., 501. 

Moses, 372. 

Philip, 95, 100. 

Samuel W., 499. 

Street, 112. 



IV 



Brunswick Convention, 284. 
Bryant, Abel M., 335, 411, 422. 

Joseph, 274. 

Orville D., 499. 

Seth E., 504, 606; biography 
of, 511. 

William M., 295, 348, 423, 489, 
459; biography of, 511. 
Bulman, Mary, 88, 116. 
Bunker, John, 501. 
Burbank, Albion, 493. 

Asa, 142, 239. 

Caleb, 343. 

Ebenezer, 239. 

Moses, 239. 

Moses M., 491. 
Burgess, Benjamin E., 499. 
Burgoyne, chafing dish belonging 

to, 477. 
Burgoyne' s Surrender, 144. 
Burke, John, 100. 
Burks, John, 511. 

Mary, 512. 

Richard, 512. 

Great Deliverance, "j trip- 
Little to depend upon, r lets. 

Much Experience, -' 512. 
Burleigh, John A. (S. Berwick), 301. 

William (S. Berwick), 297. 
Burley, Andrew, 169. 
Bumham, Charles L., 405. 

Edward P., 173. 

Rev. Edwin, 331. 

Isaac, 327. 

Israel, 239. 

James, 126. 

Capt. James, 239, 328. 

John, 265. 

Lydia, 527. 

Mary, 538, 

Owen, 338, 348, 413, 416, 419. 

Owen E., 328. 

Samuel, 92, 150, 525. 

Sarah, 328, 355. 

Seth, 174, 239, 527. 
Burnt Mill Lot, 79, 81. 
Burying-ground, Main Street, 135; 

Summer Street, 362, 366; near 

Unitarian Church, records of, 

531. 



Busby, Thomas, 76. 

Bush, John, 44, 126. 

Business Directory of 1820, 410. 

Buss, John, 77. 

Butland, Edward B., 499. 

F. Augustus, 502. 

George, 19, 77. 

Goodman, 24. 

John, 19, 47, 55, 74, 77, 100, 
137, 153, 156, 167, 200, 203. 

John, Jr., 150, 153, 168, 200, 353. 

Mary, 118. 

Nathan, 152. 

Nathaniel, 151. 

Nathaniel, Jr., 504. 

Susa, 122. 

William, 137, 512. 
Butland's Island, 77. 
Buder, Rev. Mr., 326. 
Butler's Rocks, 68, 200, 259. 
Butterfield, Lewis W., 499. 
Buttrick, Benjamin, 504. 
Buxton, 272, 304, 404, 405, 435. 
Buzzell, Elder John, 277, 330, 429, 
431. 



Cabots, 2. 

Caldwell, Rev. John, 328. 

Calef. Joseph (Saco), 230. 

Campbell, Rev. Daniel, 316. 

Cape Neddock, 105, 396, 417. 

Cape Neddock River, mill and 
bridges swept away on, 435. 

Cape Porpus, supposed to be the 
"Northland," 2; named Le 
Port aux Isles, 3; Islands of, 
3; first permanent settlers of, 
7; inhabitants of summoned 
to court, 13; boundary estab- 
lished between Wells and, 
27; by whom named and 
why so called, 29; highways 
ordered by court in, 122; 
destroyed by Indians, 198; 
coast guard at seize vessel 
and prize crew, 258; light- 
house at, 376, 391; inspector 
of customs at, 429. 



Cape Porpus (Mousam) River, why 

misnamed, 28, 29. 
Carleton, Susanna, 341. 
Carruthers, Rev. Mr., 452. 
Casco Bay, 13. 
Castine, 4.36. 

French Commander, 57, 
Cat Mousam, origin of, 90; but one 

house in, 96. 
Cat Mousam District, 115, 176, 310. 
Catriarh, 196. 

Cavalry Company, 209, 264, 265. 
Cazneau, Captain, 224. 
Centennial Celebration, 476. 

Hill, why so called, 356, 478. 

Tree planted, 477. 
Chabinocke, Sagamore Thomas, 24. 
Chadbourne, Benjamin, 154. 

Elisha, 264, 342, 348, 368, 369, 
410, 424, 450, 463. 

Hercules H., 368, 369, 424. 

Humphrey, 214, 348, 369, 421. 

John, 238, 243, 367. 

Joseph, 161. 

Samuel, 150. 
Chamberlain, Thomas B., 249, 350. 
Champernoon, Francis, 8. 
Champlain, Samuel, 3. 
Champney, Tabitha, 365. 
Chance, negro, 93, 109. 
Chandler, John, 289. 
Chapman, Daniel M., 506. 
Chase, Cotton, 435. 

Hannah, 230. 
Cheater, John, 20, 27, 95. 
Chesley, Mrs. Elizabeth, 339. 
Chick, Ivory, 19. 

Moses, 81. 
Chickering, Rev. Mr., 452. 
Child, Dr. Robert, 6. 
Christian Connection Society, or- 
ganization of, 331. 
Christian Denomination, 510. 
Churchill, Joseph, 150, 168, 364, 

512, 513. 
City, first incorporated on this con- 
tinent, 9. 
Civil War, gunboats built at the 
Port during, 385; declared. 



Civil War, 497; expense to the 
town of, 498 ; enlistments of 
townsmen to the, 499. 
Clark, Aaron, 153. 

Asa, 110. 

Benaiah, 186. 

Daniel, 120. 

Eleazer, 81. 

Eleazer, Jr., 502. 

Henry, 174, 208, 230, 240, 242. 

Jeremiah, 234. 

John, 488. 

Jonas, 131, 174, 183, 252, 334, 
360, 361, 435, 471, 484, 512, 
513. 

Mrs. Lizzie, 354. 

Nathaniel, 50, 80, 85. 

Nathaniel, Jr., 157. 

Samuel, 81, 83. 

Samuel, Jr., Ill, 338. 

William H., 499. 
Clay Hill, 25, 61, 122. 

Bridge, legend of, 122. 
Cleaves, Daniel (Biddeford), 524. 

George, 10, 21. 

Sarah, 524. 

William, 505. 
Cloyes, Susanna, 70. 
Coast disturbed by British men-of- 
war, 256. 
Cobb, Freeman A., 505. 

Rev. Gershom F., 328. 

Rev. John, 328. 
Cobb's Corner, 208. 
Cobby, John, 342. 
Coburn, Joseph, 111, 129, 135. 
Cochrane, Jacob, 253, 268. 
Cochranism, 268, 277, 414. 
Cofilin, James (Saco), 173, 

Paul (Buxton), 228. 
Cogswell, Col. Amos (Dover, N. 
H.), 539. 

Elizabeth, 344. 

Northend (Berwick), 230, 
Colburn, RowHns, 160. 
Cole, John, 79, 81, 157, 

John G., 504. 

Nicholas, 20, 42, 44, 47, 78, 82, 
126, 359. 



INDEX. 



Cole, Nicholas, Jr., 50, 80, 82, 86, 
94. 
Phineas, 333, 352. 
Remich, 150. 
Samuel, 499. 
Samuel (Sanford), 128. 
Thomas, 44, 48, 50, 86, 87. 
Cole's Corner, 18, 105, 106, 115, 
121, 130, 208, 407, 473. 
District, 130. 
Hill, 105, 121, 156. 
Coleman, Walter, 524. 
Collins, Rev. John, 328. 

William H., 502. 
Colman, Enoch T., 239. 

Samuel, 329. 
Colonists resist English rule, 138- 

149. 
Conant, Hepzibah, 134, 523. 

Nathaniel, 523. 
Condy, Charles A., 338. 

Capt. Thomas A., 360, 512, 513. 
Cook, George O., 505. 

Rev. Gideon, 325, 326. 
Corn Mill Company, 179. 
Cornish, 405. 
Corwin, Jonathan, 38. 
Cotton, John, 363. 
Coulliard Brothers, 129. 
Counties in District of Maine, 282. 
Country stores affected by war, 260. 
County Road, 112, 156. 
Court, first held in Saco, 8; at Aga- 
menticus, 12; at York, 12, 14, 
31, 182, 186; at Wells, 13, 182; 
at Waterborough, 161 ; at 
Biddeford, 181; at Kittery, 
182; at Scarborough, 182; at 
Kennebunk, 184; fireproof 
building erected, 186; rec- 
ords of, 187. 
Cousens, Abigail, 68. 
Benjamin, 100. 
Catharine, 68. 
Catharine, daughter of Major 

Nathaniel, 513. 
Ichabod, 41, 51, 68, 81, 86, 100, 

116, 135, 203, 204, 359. 
James G., 424. 



Cousens, John, 92, 116, 157. 
John, Jr., 110, 157, 159. 
John, 3d, 74, 203. 
John, 4th, 214, 343, 344, 364. 
Joseph, 101, 150. 
Mrs. Nancy, 358. 
Maj. Nathaniel, 74, 118, 1.37, 
150, 152, 159, 161, 169, 206, 
476, 528; biography of, 513. 
Nathaniel, Jr., 114, 482. 
Olive M., 499. 
Ruth Cole, 359. 
Samuel, Jr., 74. 
Thomas, 50, 51. 
Thomas, Jr., 41, 100, 336, 337, 

353. 
William G., 504. 
Coxhall (Lyman), 44, 54, 121, 155, 

204, 341. 
Coxhall-Mousam Road, first settler 

on, 353. 
Crediford, Joseph, 49. 
Cressey, Rev. George W., 323. 
Crocker, Thomas, 177, 382. 
Cross, Betsey, 533. 
Josiah, 234. 
Peter, 333. 
Cumberland County, 154, 188. 
Cummings, Rev. Dr., 331. 
Currier, Abraham, 358. 

Edmund, 93, 150, 158, 359, 481, 

524. 
Jacob M. (Dover, N. H.), 344. 
Lucy, 525. 
Mary, 118, 524. 
Curtis, Benjamin, 48, 50, 78, 85. 
Benjamin, Jr., 78. 
Bracy, 421. 
Daniel, 212. 

Ebenezer.236, 343, 411, 417, 529. 
H. Fuller, 343, 495, 506. 
Jacob, 169, 179, 358. 
Joseph, 135, 233, 333, 373, 411, 

423, 424. 
Ralph, 238, 252, 327, 333, 342, 

352, 363, 410, 438, 522. 
Samuel, 74, 85, 287. 
Susie A., 495. 



VII 



Curtis's Court, 342. 
Wharf, 415, 418. 
Gushing, Adam, 92. 

Thomas, 154. 
Custom House, Biddeford, 172, 173; 
Kennebunk, 131, 174, 360; 
Kennebunkport, 131, 174, 
440; Saco, 173; collector, 
131, 174, 222, 225, 234, 389, 
399, 399-401, 429, 445, 511, 
527; duties collected at, 177; 
entries at, 393; officers, vigi- 
lance of, 260. 
Cutts, Charles, 300, 338. 
Edward, 154. 
Foxwell (Pepperelborough), 

185. 
John, 86, 535. 
Priscilla, 535. 
Richard, 222. 
Capt. Thomas, 257. 
Cutts's Cove, 86. 

Daggett, Daniel, 375. 

Joseph, 150. 
Dame, Eliphalet, 412. 
Dana, Judah, 185. 
Dane, Joseph, 227, 244, 284, 287, 
290, 297, 306, 361, 410, 442, 
450, 456, 475, 477. 
Joseph, Jr., 90, 335, 367, 452, 

524. 
Nathan, Jr., 118, 336, 3.51, 368, 

462. 
Street, 245, 322, 365, 356. 
Walter L., 295. 
Daniel, John Mark, 203. 
Daniels, Isaac, 233, 369. 
Dark Day, 146. 

Darling, Rev. Walter E., 323, 477. 
Dartmoor Prison, sailors confined 

in, 265, 269. 
Davis, Daniel, 154, 186, 273. 
Jerusha, 117. 
Capt. Josiah, 152. 
Sarah, 116. 
Shoe shop, 375, 385. 
Day, Benjamin, 74, 123, 134, 157, 
327. 



Day, Benjamin, Jr., 123. 
Dolly, 134. 
Hannah, 125. 

Joseph, 79, 81, 104, 116, 203; 
children of, Benjamin, Eliza- 
beth, Hilton, Joseph, Jr., 
Mary, Priscilla, Sarah, Will- 
iam, 123. 
Nathaniel, 160. 
Patience, 123. 

William, 157; his fight for life 
with a bear, 205. 
Day District, pioneer settler of, 115, 

123. 
Dearborn, George H., 414. 

Henry, 154. 
Debating Club, 449. 
Declaration of Independence re- 
ceived with joy, 143. 
Deer and Moose Reeves, town offi- 
cer, 205. 
Deighton, Benjamin, 359. 
Democratic Party, so-called, 300. 
Denmark, James, 197. 
Denney, John, Jr., 150. 
Depot Master, first in town, 329. 
D'Estaing, 144. 

Dickson, Capt. Benjamin, 172. 
Dighton, Capt. Benjamin, 172. 

Thomas, 267. 
Doctor's Bridge, 130, 488. 
Dodge, Benjamin, 420. 
Dorman, Jedediah, 239. 

Capt. Jesse, tornado blows him 

with bed from house, 151. 
John, 239. 
Stephen, 606. 
Thomas, 239. 
Dorrance, Dr. James, 294, 411, 421. 

L. K., 379. 
Doughty's Falls (N. Berwick), mail 

route to, 105, 405. 
Dover, N. H., places itself under 
Massachusetts government, 
18; stage route via, 106; 
printing office in, 215, 430; 
installation of Stafford Lodge, 
249; explosion of gunpowder 
in streets of, 431. 



VIII 



Dow, Rev. Lorenzo, 329. 
Dowdie, Willsbury, 389. 
Downing, George G., 499. 
Capt. Isaac, 327, 364. 
Rev. Israel, 330. 
John G., 214, 345, 369. 
Jonathan, 227. 
Joshua, 239. 
Downs, William, 865. 
Drake's Island, first houses in 

Wells on, 197. 
Drawbridge, David, 529. 

Mrs. David, 352. 
Dresser, George, 246. 

Mark, 524. 
Drew, Thomas, 232, 236, 243, 245, 

337, 369, 413, 415. 
Drown, Moses, 152. 

Orlando, 504. 

Dummer, Richard, 22. 

Dunham, Ebenezer, 130, 187. 

Ichabod, 130. 

Jedediah, 239. 

Durgin, Michael, inventor of apple 

paring machine, 109, 235. 
Durham, N. H., former name of, 

196. 
Durrell, Abigail, 539, 
Benjamin, 441. 
Daniel, 110, 353, 529. 
Henry, 355. 
Philip, 477. 
Durrell's Bridge, 159, 162, 240, 434, 

441. 
Dutch, Georges., 499. 
John P., 502. 
Lydia, 339. 
Dutton, Richard, 109. 
Dwelling-house, first in town, two 

stories high, 525. 
Dye, John, 6. 
Dye Patent, 1, 30. 



Eagle of Maine, first newspaper 
printed in Kennebunk, 211, 
214. 

Eastern Star, weekly paper, 218. 

Eaton, Rev. Mr., 292. 



Eaton, Thomas, house carpenter, 
narrow escape from roof of 
Unitarian Church, 310, 352. 
William, 152. 
Echo, first newspaper printed in 

York County, 211. 
Edes, Rev. Edward H,, 320, 460. 
Eels, Sarah, 204. 
Eftingham, Will, 32. 
Eldridge, Capt. Theodore, 231. 
Elephant, first in town, 228. 
Eliot, 187, 435. 
Elm Street, 355. 
Elwell, Benjamin, 411, 521. 

John, 411. 
Emerson, Amos C, 499. 
Rev. Charles, 325. 
George B., 429. 
George W., 499, 504. 
Joseph B., 244. 

Dr. Samuel, 115, 152, 215, 221, 
223, 226, 237, 244, 307, 320, 
336, 411, 418, 429, 433, 446, 
448, 460, 470, 473, 484; wel- 
comes Lafayette, 469. 
Waldo, 66, 126, 203. 
Washington, 499. 
Dr. William S., 448-450, 475, 

510. 
Mrs. William S., 524. 
Emerson Falls, 34, 62. 
Emery, Benjamin F., 424. 
Caleb S. (Sanford), 302. 
Isaac, 162, 185, 511. 
Isaac M., 504. 
Jabez, 79. 
Job, 150, 152. 
John, 410, 421. 
Lorenzo S. , 499. 
Mary E., 511. 
Nicholas, 185, 186. 
Samuel, 76. 
Emmons, Collins, 124. 
Frank A., 125. 
John, 137. 

Joseph (Lyman), 351. 
Obediah, 74, 150. 
Samuel, 59, 82, 101. 
Seth, 124. 
SethT., 124. 



Endicott, Gilbert, 48. 

Governor, 13. 
Engine House, 370. 
Epheard Brook, 83. 
Episand, 198. 

Brook, 198. 
Epps, Daniel, 20, 35, 63. 

Simon, 63. 
Eps Point, 85, 86. 
Evans, Abner, 137. 

Edmund, 85. 

Edward, 59, 61, 68, 130. 

John, 137. 

William, 137. 
Exchange Building, 253. 
Exeter, N. H., purchased of Indi- 
ans, 17; settlement at, 18,27. 
Exford, 197, 198. 



Factory Pasture, 111, 164, 306. 
Fairfield, Ann, 368. 

Eugene A., 366. 

Frank, 366. 

John, 77. 

William, 132, 295, 334, 342. 
Falls Creek, 78, 121. 
Falmouth (Portland), when named, 

13; destruction of, 57. 
Fane, John, 80. 
Farley, Stephen, 486. 
Farmer's Friend and Laboring 
Man's Advocate, campaign 
paper, 217. 
Farnum, George C, 238. 
Felch, Susan, 418. 
Fellows, Rev. Franklin E., 323. 
Felt, Captain, 75. 
Ferguson, J. H. & Co., 114, 873, 

521. 
Fernald^Furnell, 514. 

Alexander G., 422. 

Angle, 345. 

Betsey, 110. 

Hannah, 110. 

Thomas, 131, 488. 
Ferrin, Nathan, 126. 
Ferris, Rev. L. F., 324. 
Fiddler, John, 258, 417. 



Field Driver and Hogreeve, town 
officer, 250. 

Fifield, John, 242. 

Fire of 1824, 346, 432. 

Society, 120; organization of, 
462; records of, 462; fire 
hook purchased by, 462; 
name of company, 463; first 
supper of the, 463; ladies 
admitted to supper of the, 
464; engines, Washington 
and Safeguard, purchased 
by, 464. 

First Congregational Church built, 
310; remodeled, 310, 319; 
centennial anniversary of, 
320; records of, 531. 

Fish, Abner, 153. 

Fisher, Dr. Jacob, 152, 163, 210, 221, 

227, 232, 250, 258, 276, 284, 
335, 355, 368, 411, 462, 476, 
484; writer and story teller, 
514. 

John W., 505. 
Fishing Bounty Day, 389. 
Fisk, Abner, 103. 
Fiske, Jonathan, 372, 401, 

Moses, 134, 374. 
Fletcher, Captain, 220. 

Rev. Nathaniel H., 75, 223, 

228, 230, 277, 313, 315, 351, 
359, 410, 420, 446, 473, 475; 
biography of, 516; children 
of, Abel, Abigail, Charles, 
George Wallingford, Han- 
nah, John, Jonas, Mary, 517. 

Street, 161, 348. 
Fluellen's Falls, 44. 
Folsom, tradition of name, 206. 

Jeremiah, 206, 523. 

Mary, 111. 

Peter, 236, 248, 345. 

Thomas, 233, 234, 334, 359. 
Ford, John Q. A., 505. 

Mark H., 295. 

Mrs. Paulina, 527. 

Robert (Berwick), 186. 
Fort Mary, Saco, 56. 
Foss, Capt. Leander, 392, 394. 



Foster, Rev. William H., 328. 
Fourth of July Celebrations, 207, 

219, 223, 226, 300, 302, 475. 
Fowler, Philip, 79, 83. 
Freas, John, 101. 
Free Library Association, 338. 
French, Chase W., 247. 
French and Indian Wars, 56, 137, 

201. 
Friends of Peace Convention, 226. 
Frost, Abigail Kimball, 337. 

Goodman, killed by Indians, 56. 
John, 154. 

John, Jr., 226, 295, 337, 417. 
Col. John (Kittery), 151. 
Nathaniel, carried away by 

Indians, 56. 
Nathaniel, Jr., 232, 240, 247, 
337, 339, 422, 462, 533; chil- 
dren of, Cyrus, Mary Ann, 
Nathaniel, Sarah Elizabeth, 
837. 
Timothy, 236, 240, 241, 251, 
258, 294, 298, 340, 357, 370, 
411, 446, 462. 
William, 43, 50, 197. 
William, Jr., 50. 
Maj. William (Sanford), 530. 
William (York), 518. 
William G., 133, 346. 
Frost's Hotel, 301. 
Frothingham, John, 186. 
Fryeburg, first newspaper in York 
County printed in, 211. 
Home of Cochranism, 268-270. 
Fuller, Rev. Joseph, 323, 450. 

Sidney T., 41, 340, 349, 368. 
Funguntum Society, 296. 
Furbish, Isaac, 356. 

Dr. Joshua, 312, 313. 
Rufus, 354, 410, 418. 
Stephen, 208, 343, 345, 366, 410. 

Game, "Going round the square," 

354. 
Garden Street, 121, 129, 131. 
Garland, Albra, 504, 505. 

Charles E., 504. 

Nicholas, 62. 



Garrison, settlers take refuge in, 43. 
Harden's, 75, 200, 518. 
Lord's, 523. 
Storer's, 59, 520. 
Gayl, Hugh, 32. 
Gedney, Bartholomew, 37. 
Getchell, George, 186. 
John, 133. 
Joseph, 133. 
Gibbs, Henry, 363. 

Robert, 36. 
Gillespie, John, 165, 246. 

Mrs. John, 134. 
Gillespie's Point, 19, 121. 
Gillpatrick, Asa, 518. 
Daniel, 111. 
Dimon, 110, 111, 410. 
Elizabeth, 74. 
George A., 356. 
Mrs. Hannah, 527. 
James, 68, 80, 103, 150-152. 
John, 101, 127, 203. 
John, Jr., 74, 92, 100, 157. 
Joseph, 107, 152, 164. 
Joseph, Jr., 421. 
Joshua, 150. 

Nathaniel, 177, 382, 411, 518. 
Richard, 111, 113, 133, 150,204, 

252, 342, 371, 524, 533, 539. 
Richard, Jr., 111. 
Samuel, 157, 179, 186. 
Thomas L., 365. 
William, 133, 243, 262, 342,411. 
William (Wells), 506. 
Gilman, Capt. John, 61. 
Joseph, 92, 221, 284. 
Godfrey, Edward, 6, 11, 12. 

John, 8. 
Goff, Cyrus B., 502. 
Goff's Mill Tannery, 429. 
Gomez, Spanish adventurer, 2. 
Gooch, Benjamin, 81, 87, 88, 202. 
Jedediah, 86, 93. 
Jedediah, Jr., 160, 152. 
John, 23, 35, 50, 81; biography 

of, 618. 
John, Jr., 23, 518. 
John, 3d, 157. 
John B., 504. 



XI 



Gooch, Joseph, 423. 

Ruth, 518. 

Samuel, 185. 

William, 419. 

Capt. William, 213. 

William H., 504. 
Gooch's Beach, 121, 476. 

Creek, 76, 200, .520. 
Goodale, Elizabeth, 136. 
Goodenovv, Daniel (Alfred), 302, 

307, 440. 
Goodnow, Charles, 350. 
Good Templars, Earnest Lodge of, 
461. 

Salus Lodge of, 339, 449, 461. 
Goodwin, Bartholomew, 150. 

Benjamin F., 347. 

Hosah, 236, 347, 354. 

Ichabod, 154, 161. 

Ivory, 105. 

Jeremiah, 298. 

John, 243. 

Joshua, 81, 86, 127. 

Paul, 152, 202. 

Sally, 338. 

Tristram, 499. 

William C, 506. 
Gorgeana (York), first English city 
incorporated on this conti- 
nent, 9, 12. 
Gorges, Ferdinando, 14-16. 

Sir Ferdinando, 1, 4-11, 17-19. 

Thomas, 8, 10, 17, 18, 20, 86. 

William, governor and lord- 
proprietary of Maine, 7, 8. 
Gorham, 405. 
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 2. 
Gould, Edward, 337, 356, 417, 420, 
423, 442. 

L B. N., 422. 
Gould's Causey, 115, 129, 160, 197. 
Gowen, Heber, 123, 305. 
Grandy, Amos, 71, 219. 
Granger, Daniel T. (Saco), 273, 301. 
Granite Speculation, 403. 

State House, 95. 
Grant, Mrs. Abigail, 336. 

Ann, 240, 247, 248, 336, 417. 

Charles T.. 502. 



Grant, Capt. John, 151, 152, 336, 
342, 518. 

John, Jr., 332. 

Nicholas, 504. 

Sarah, 240, 248, 266, 336, 417. 
Grants near Alewive Brook, 81, 123. 

Kennebunk River, 48, 76, 127. 

Little River, 50, 79. 

Mousam River, 48, 85. 

Rankin's Creek, 83. 

Ross Road, 127. 

To Second Parish, 102. 
Gray, James (HoUis), 186. 

William (Boston), 172. 
Great Falls, mills on, 43-46, 65; 
water power purchased, 371. 
Great Freshet, 129, 167, 180. 
Great Hill, 19, 21, 24, 31, 85, 121, 

165, 376. 
Great Hill Farm, 423. 
Great Swamp, 115, 129, 160. 
Green, Aaron, 337, 429, 486. 

Rev. Beriah, 323, 340, 450. 

Street, 241, 340. 
Greene, Benjamin (Berwick), 186, 
226. 

Dr. B. F., 412. 
Greenleaf Controversy, 314. 

Rev. Jonathan, 230, 315, 435, 
473. 

Simon, 242. 
Greenough, Edward, 356, 415, 421. 
Greenwood, Mason (Portland), 403. 
Griffin, Alvin E., 502. 
Grove Street, 356. 
Gubtill, John. 234. 
Gunboats built at the Port, 385. 



Hacker, Isaac, 372. 

William E., 371, 372. 
Hackett, Mary Hudson, 339. 

Nancy, 339. 

William, ]35, 232, 236, 244, 337, 
339, 340, 356, 357, 360, 377, 
429. 

William, Jr., 339. 
Hague, Rev. Mr. (Boston), 491. 
Haley, James C, 505, 



XII 



Hall, Dr. Abiel (Alfred), 220, 221, 
224, 230. 

Dr. Edwin (Alfred), 302. 

Mrs. F. P., 367. 

Parker, 327. 

Porter, 305, 421. 

Woodbury A., 233, 248, 334. 
Hallowell, 420. 
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal, 403. 
Hammond, Hannah, 429. 

Jonathan, 47, 67. 

William, 77, 126. 
Hamons, Will, 28. 
Hance, Harry, political crank, 296. 
Hancock County, 154. 

John, 154. 

Samuel, 365. 
Handson, Adoniram, 111. 
Hanscomb, seller of "baiths," 296. 

Charles, 505. 

John W., 505, 506. 

Timothy, 239. 
Harbor frozen over, 386. 
Harding, Abigail Littlefield, 518. 

Israel, 518. 

James, 521. 

Lydia, 521. 

Stephen, 49, 55, 69, 77, 510; 
biography of, 518; story of 
his gun of many charges, 519. 

WiUiam, 521. 
Harding's Garrison, 75, 200, 518. 

Saw-mill, 200. 

Wharf, 400-402. 
Hardison, Adoniram, 182, 411, 444. 
Hardy, Mrs. Clara L., 346. 

Enoch, 214, 240, 246, 295, 338, 
344, 355, 360, 369, 425, 472. 

Enoch, Jr.. 338. 
George W., 335, 338. 

Susie, 349. 

Theophilus, 235, 238, 350, 354. 
.Harmon, John, 197 
I Pelatiah, Jr. (Buxton), 318. 
' William, 67, 85, 86. 
Harris, Rev. Mr., .326. 
Harriseeket, 103, 106, 107, 121, 130. 



Hart, Col. Henry, 19, 93, 130, 163, 
488. 

Samuel, 130. 
Hart's Beach, 121, 536. 

Rocks, 19. 
Hartley, John (Saco), 173. 
Hartshorn, Putnam, 414. 
Hartwell, Mrs. Martha, 346. 
Harvey, John, 389. 

Widow Philadelphia, 231. 
Haskins, Roger, 45. 
Hatch, Abigail, 117. 

Dr. Alexander(N. Berwick), 252. 

Dea. Benjamin, 153. 

Charles P., 506. 

Daniel, 74. 

Daniel, Jr., 117, 159. 

Daniel L., 367, 416, 451. 

Mrs. Daniel L., 238. 

Elijah, 152. 

Elizabeth W., 477. 

George W., 499. 

Hepzibah, 353. 

John C, 117, 438. 

Jonathan, 1.53. 

Joseph, 522. 

Capt. Joseph, 294, 320, 362, 367. 

Capt. Joseph, Jr., 132. 

Joshua, Jr., 500. 

Jotham, 352. 

Lemuel, 74, 410. 

Martha, 352, 432. 

Mary, 117. 

Nathaniel, 159. 

Dea. Obediah, 74. 116. 

Obediah, Jr., 117, 165. 

Philip, 118, 165. 

Reuben, 74, 75, 352, 432, 481. 

Rhoda, 117. 

Robert, 500. 
Hathorne, Eleazer, 48. 
Hatter, first in town, 365. 
Hawkes, Benjamin F., 502. 
Hawks, Thomas, 208. 
Hay Market, 233, 251. 
Hayes, Elihu (Lebanon). 230. 
Erastus, 415, 418. 
Hercules M., 236, 524. 

Joseph M., 230, 241, 252, 340, 
412, 523. 



Hayes, Lucy, 523. 

Rev. Robert, 327. 

William A. or "Father Hayes" 
(S. Berwick), 318, 435, 456, 
459-461. 
Hayford, Gardiner, 472. 
Hayman, Edward Payne (S. Ber- 
wick), 185, 297. 
Hazeltine, Richard (Berwick), 221. 
Heater, 354. 
Heath, Kennebunk, 106. 

Landing, 341, 410. 

Rev. Mr., 300. 
Hedge Farm, 69. 

Hemmenway, Rev. Moses, 153, 
222, 541. 

Phineas, 368. 
Hemp, cultivation of, 436. 
Henry, William, 233. 
Herrick, Charles, 337, 357, 425. 

Mrs. Charles, 334. 

Joshua, 400. 
Hersey, L H. (Saco), 302. 
Hertel de Rouville, French Com- 
mander, 56. 
Hewes, Mrs., 251, 370. 
Hewitt Mill, 375. 
High Landing, 91. 
Highway, logs obstruct, 131; 
blocked with ship timber, 
178. 
Highways laid out, 155, 437. 
Hildreth & Ayers, 424. 
Hill, Capt. Abraham, 336. 

Benjamin, 363. 

Benjamin J., 118. 

Ebenezer, 363. 

Elizabeth, 534. 

Emma, 328. 

Hannah, 351. 

James P., 500. 

Jeremiah (Biddeford), 173, 224. 

John, biography of, 522. 

Capt. John (Saco ), 56. 

Capt. John, 214. 

Mrs. John, 345. 

Jonathan, 185. 

Joseph, 39, 67, 74, 77, 78, 82, 
88, 363, 534. 



Hill, Joseph C, 500. 

Joseph H., 494. 

Josiah, 124. 

Mark Langdon, 399. 

Nathaniel (Lyman), 194. 

Richard, negro, 93, 109. 

Roger, 56, 534. 

Samuel, 49, 76, 350-352. 

"Major" Samuel, 522. 

Samuel L., 505. 

William, 423. 
Hillard, Levi P., 305, 365, 369, 420, 

450. 
Hilton, Isaac, 524. 

Mrs. Isaac, 118, 338. 

John H., 414. 

Sarah, 524. 
Hilton's Tavern, 302. 
Hinds, Mr. (Portland), 347. 
Hoag, Enos, 250, 252, 357. 
Hobbs, Joseph, 74, 105, 158, 179. 

William, 185. 
Hobbs's Tavern, 105. 
Hodsdon, Daniel, 126, 234, 251, 
346, 355, 410, 414, 424, 432; 
children of, Cyrus, Dr. Dan- 
iel, Nancy, Olive P., 350. 

Jonathan, 186. 
Hollis, 226, 304, 329, 368, 405. 
Holmes, Daniel, 220. 

John (Alfred), 185, 186, 188, 
194, 219, 226, 227, 229, 249, 
263, 289, 290, 298, 334, 399, 
405, 406. 
Hooke, William, 8. 
Hooper, Jane, 344. 

Loammi, 208, 235, 369. 
Hope Cemetery, 421; records and 

plans of, 531. 
Hopkins, Rev. Mr., 452. 
Horse Marine, 260. 
Hough, Ebenezer, 206. 
Household Manufacturer, 221. 
Houston, John, Jr., 152. 
Hovey, Capt. Ebenezer, 141. 

Ivory (S. Berwick), 230. 

Dr. Ivory (Berwick), 526. 

Capt. John, 110, 142, 161, 191, 
247. 

Temple, 185, 186. 



XIV 



Howard, Pomfret, 333. 

Samuel, 185. 
Howell, Morgan, 1, 28. 
Hubbard, Abigail, 214. 

Benjamin, 502. 

Calvin R. (Shapleigh), 301. 

Charles S., 505, 506. 

Dimon, 150, 214, 364, 365. 

Dudley, 185, 186. 

Capt. James, 74, 126, 150, 203, 
251, 359, 364, 483, 512. 

Capt. James, Jr., 251, 364, 423, 
440, 460. 

Jeremiah, 185. 

Mrs. Johannah, 270, 

John, 365, 366. 

Rev. John, 325. 

Capt. Joseph, 183, 206. 

Joshua, 161. 

Mary, 364. 

Moses, 83, 03. 

Samuel, 366, 410, 412. 

Tabitha, 365. 
Huff, Benjamin, Jr., 239. 

Captain, 386. 

Charles, 239. 

Daniel, 239. 

Ebenezer, 233, 424. 

Mrs. Ebenezer, 370. 

Thatcher J., 500. 

Thomas, 151. 
Hunton, Jonathan G., 299. 
Hussey, Paul H., 248, 374, 410, 412, 

413, 416, 419. 
Hutchins, Betsey, 235. 

Greenleaf C, .506. 

Samuel, 329. 
Hyde, Rev. Silas H., 328. 



Illsley, Enoch, 242. 
Indian Atrocities, 56, .58, 68, 75, 
137, 199, 200. 

Chief, Bomazeen, 200. 

Chief, Mogg, 68, 200. 

Deed to Wadleigh, 24, 63. 

Hannah Simon, 108. 

Legend, 122. 

Planting Ground, 42, 



Indian Sachem, Whoop Hood, 56. 

Sagamore, Chabinocke, 24, 63. 

Sagamore, Fluellen Sumpti- 
mus, 44, 66. 

Sagamore, Sosowen, 44. 

Trickery, 519. 

Wars, 137. 
Indians, Converted, 68. 

Norridgewock, tribe of, 199, 
Innholder, first in town, 68. 
Iron Ledge, 203. 

Works, 105, 111, 114, 134, 158, 
178, 358. 
Isles of Shoals. 395. 



Jackson, Anthony, 505. 

President, preparations for pro- 
posed visit of, 472. 
Jacksonmen, 300. 
JefTerds, Clement, 266. 

George, 104, 110, 114, 240, 410, 

448, 529. 
Hannah, 523. 

Mrs. Nancy (Morrison), 353. 
Nathaniel, 111, 112, 114, 234, 
241, 248, 294, 374, 410,412,462, 
Olive, .523. 
Capt. Samuel, 104. 
Rev. Samuel, 104, 202, 204. 
Simon, 104. 

Maj. William, 104, 112-114, 118, 
247, 3.36, 374, 410, 484, 523, 
Jefferds's Fulling Mill, 114, 373. 
Tavern, 104, 111, 115, 119, 221, 
223, 226-228, 237, 264, 333, 
413, 448. 
Jellerson, William, 172, 237, 
Jellison, Alvah, .502. 

William, 1.50. 
Jenness, John Scribner, author of 

"Isles of Shoals," 3. 
Johnson, James, 33, 86. 
Jones, Dorcas, 203. 

George T., 48, 92, 116, 120, 332. 
Henry A., 449. 
John, 410. 
Thacher, 92. 
Thomas, 152. 



Jordan, Henry, 208, 410. 

Ichabod, 273. 

Rushworth, 164. 

S., 423. 
Joscelyn, Henry, 8. 

Thomas, 8. 
Jose, Thomas L., 505. 
Joy, Rev. Amaziah, 326. 
Judicial Courts, 181. 
Junkins, Albert, 502. 

Horace, .500. 

Paul, 243, 348, 421. 

Robert P., 500. 

Samuel (York), religious crank, 
414. 

William, 502. 
Juvenile Infantry Company, 226. 

Kelley, Abbot L. (Waterborough), 
431. 

Abial, 164, 249, 365, 412. 

Abial, Jr., 348, 354, 365, 411, 
415, 418, 424. 

Betsey, 365. 

Charles, 236. 

Charlotte, 365. 

Lucy, 365. 

Mary, 365. 
Kelley's Landing, 262. 
Kendall, Rev. Mr., 326. 
Kennebunk, first permanent settler 
of, 18, 44; town of, taxed for 
beef, 66; first schoolmaster 
employed in, 97; freeholders 
petition to be set off with 
Arundel, 99; Second Parish 
incorporated, 100; prosperity 
of, 121, 139, 177, 481; increase 
in popularity, 126. 183; vol- 
unteers in French and Indian 
War, 137; in Revolutionary 
War, 150; highways laid out, 
155-165; Port and District of, 
174; office of county clerk 
and register of probate 
moved to, 186: courthouse 
planned for, 191; Cavalry 
Company 209, 264, 265; Free 
Library Association of, 249; 



Kennebunk, coast settlements 
protected by militia, 257; 
Second Parish petition to 
be set off from Wells, 
291; incorporation of, 292; 
census, valuation and com- 
merce of when incorporated, 
294; first town meeting, 
294; first town clerk, 294; 
first town treasurer, 295; in- 
crease of population, 309; 
Sunday School Society or- 
ganized, 321; railway station 
established at West, 329; 
Manufacturing Company in- 
corporated, 371; citizens of 
reserve right to take seaweed 
from beach, 423; census in 
1830, 438; population and 
valuation in 1840, 445; Gen- 
eral Lafayette guest of, 468; 
School Districts in, 482; en- 
listment of citizens in Civil 
War, 499; richest man in, 
525; highest taxpayer in, 536. 

Bank, 174, 241; charter re- 
voked, 439. 

Fort, 205. 

Gazette, 213, 214, 217, 296, 385, 
411, 454, 459, 532; advertis- 
ing columns of, 412; and 
Maine Palladium, 217. 

Granite Company, 404. 

Harbor guarded by militia, 257. 

Heath, 106, 107. 

And Kennebunkport Railroad 
Company, 385. 

And Kennebunkport Seashore 
Company, 510. 

Landing, number of vessels 
built at, 174; increase in pop- 
ulation, 176, 483. 

Musical Society, 224. 

Pier built at, 398. 

Point (Lord's Point), fort at, 
259; picnic at, 475. 



Kennebunk River, dividing line be- 
tween the two counties, 9; di- 
viding line between Cape Por- 
pus and Wells, 27; first vessel 
built on, 69; bridge over, 159; 
drawbridge over, 162; gon- 
dolas on, 178, ;?84; sloop's 
crew killed by Indians on, 
200; toll bridge over, 208, 
240, 428, 438; lock built on, 
383; Kennebunk River Com- 
pany incorporated, 384; first 
steamer on, 391; beach near 
mouth of ceded to the United 
States,428; petition for bridge 
over Narrows, 437; sturgeon 
taken from, 440; landslide 
into, 441. 

Wharf, 164. 
Kennebunkport, first settlers of, 6 
first house built at, 125, 436 
custom house moved to, 131 
early settlers of, 176; citizens 
of organize with Cavalry 
Company, 265; shipping dec- 
orated at, 267; incorporation 
of, 293; petition to Congress 
for completion of pier, 402; 
granite quarried at, 403; 
granite companies formed, 
404; cost of transportation to 
Portland from, 408; Congre- 
gational meeting-house ded- 
icated, 432; meeting-house 
damaged by tornado, 433; 
dam swept away at, 435; 
census in 1830, 438'; Sher- 
burne's meeting-house sold 
at auction, 444; Bradbury's 
History of, 444. 
Kezer, Timothy, 178, 232, 235, 242, 

244, 349, 522. 
Kilham, Isaac, 241, 382, 411, 420. 
Kimball, Abigail, 70. 

Alpheus T., 504. 

Barack, 70. 

Benjamin, 93, 153. 

Caleb, 70, 93. 

Caleb, Jr., 68, 70, 82, 127. 



Kimball, Caleb, 3d, 70, 83, 361. 
Charles, 504. 
Charles M., 502. 
Charles W., 356, 370, 423. 
Deborah, 361. 
Edward W., .500. 
Frank, 502. 
Hannah, 332. 
Hasadiah, 70. 
Haven, 104. 
Heber, 70. 

Increase G., 302, 339. 
Increase S., 420, 449. 
Israel, 500. 

Israel (Wells), 306, 460. 
Jacob, 311, 341. 
James, 41, 74, 111, 118, 128, 

172, 179, 336, 337, 365, 357, 

359, 360, 368, 370. 
James, Jr., 128, 244, 252, 387, 

338, 355, 361. 
John, 150. 
John T., 355, 370. 
Jonathan, 416. 
Joseph, 370. 
Joseph, Jr., .505. 
Joshua, 93, 94. 
Joshua, Jr., 94. 
Jotham, 370, 374. 
Loammi, 336, 370. 
Luther, 234, 247. 
Marshall, 126. 
Nathan, 150, 152. 
Capt. Nathaniel, 67-69, 74, 76, 

78, 82, 94, 100, 153, 157, 203, 

206, 332, 339. 
Dea. Richard, 67-69, 74, 78, 94, 

100, 206. 
Richard, Jr., 127, 137. 
Samuel, 133, 424. 
Sarah, 125. 

Sarah, wife of James, Jr., 338. 
Sarah, wife of Joshua, 94. 
Susanna, 126. 
Thomas, 71, 100, 128. 
Kimball's Neighborhood, 481. 
Shipyard, 69. 



King, Cyrus (Saco), 186, 222, 229; 
interred with military hon- 
ors, 230. 
Gov. VVilHam, 284, 289, 290. 
William's War, 4.3, 56. 
King's Highway, 121. 
Kingsbury, Henry, .305, 339, 382, 

393, 415, 416, 474, 510. 
Kittery, 12, 105, 167, 182, 184, 187, 

189, 196, 231, 268. 
Knight, Abigail, 365. 
Samuel, 186. 
Thomas, 365. 
Knights, David H., 500. 
John G., 500. 
Joseph G., 503. 
Knowlton, Agnes, 350. 

Lois, 349. 
Knox, George, 491. 



Lafayette, General, visits Kenne- 
bunk, 120, 467; guest at 
Storer mansion, 471. 
Laighton, William, 142. 
Lake Brook. 200, 486. 
Lane, Isaac (Hollis), 297. 
Langdon, Samuel, 92. 
Larrabee, Benjamin, 132. 
Ebenezer, 128. 
Edward N., 504. 
Fort, 201, 205. 
George W., 110. 
James, 335. 
Jesse, 132. 

Joel, 93, 112, 128, 132. 
Joel, Jr., 411. 
Joel, 3d, 128. 
Settlement, 39, 57, 122, 168, 

205, 483. 
Dea. Stephen, 60, 76, 78, 100, 
122, 124, 128, 129, 150, 161, 
200. 
Stephen, Jr., 157. 
Village, 58, 262; family killed 

by Indians at, .58. 
Lieut. William, 57, 58. 
William, Jr., 58-60, 76, 85, 205. 



Lassel, Amy, 525. 
Catharine, 513. 
Joshua, 513. 
Lawson, David, 76, 82, 85. 

David, Jr., 76. 
Lawson's Creek, 76. 
Leach & Lymand, 373. 
Leatherboard Company, 114, 358, 
Lebanon, 226, 230, 405. 
Leigh, Thomas (S. Berwick) , 371. 
Leighton, William, 423. 
Leighton's Point, Biddeford Pool,4. 
Lewis, Ebenezer, 200. 
Miss, teacher, 369. 
M. D., 372. 
Lexington Elms, 118, 337. 
Libby, Elias, 429, 431. 
LiUie, John, 252, 296, 411. 
Limerick, 230, 290, 339; weekly 
paper, 429. 
Artillery, Kennebunk field- 
pieces transferred to, 266; at 
county convention, 304. 
Phillips Academy, 222. 
Limington Artillery Company sta- 
tioned at Kennebunk Point, 
259; mail route through, 405. 
Lincoln County, 154, 188. 
Governor, 435. 
Rev. Thomas O., 326. 
Literary and Moral Society, 447. 
Lithlow, William, 154, 
Little, Rev. Daniel, 74, 78, 92, 101, 
120, 126, 15.3, 31.3, 365, 516; 
employed as schoolmaster, 
480. 
David, 177, 234, 239, 382, 411, 

412. 
George L., 133, 346, 363. 
Hannah C, 890. 
River, early settlers on, 6; 

mills on, 43, 84. 
Sarah, 120. 
Littlefield, Aaron, 116, 165, 
Abigail, 116. 
Abraham, 150, 
Abraham, Jr., 239, 
Alfred, 104, 107. 
Anthony, 23, 24. 



XVIII 



Littlefield, Anthony, Jr., 61, 74, 

125, 152, 157, 200, 341. 
Benaiah, 132, 133, 328, 354. 
Benjamin, "Uncle Ben," 252, 

363, 366, 411. 
Burying Ground, 103. 
Capt. B., 474. 
Caleb, 62. 
Caleb, Jr., 62. 
Caleb & Co., 62, 123. 
Col. Charles R., 346. 
Christopher, 343, 422, 528. 
Daniel, 157. 
David, 46, 61. 
David (Alewive), 410. 
Edmund, 19, 20, 24, 42, 136. 
Edmund, Jr., 28, 42, 76, 82, 

136, 859. 
Eliab, 47, 92. 
Emerson, 127, 504. 
Francis, 13, 23-25, 27, 42, 86, 87. 
Francis, Jr., 74, 88. 
Frederick H., 500. 
George E., 133, 245, 343, 364. 
Gustavus B., 500. 
Henry, 504. 
Huldah, 203. 
Huldah, wife of Joseph Hobbs, 

105. 
Jacob, 153, 411. 

James, killed by Indians, 56, 57. 
Capt. James, 108. 
Capt. James, Jr., 86, 108, 152, 153. 
Jeremiah, 3d, 153. 
Jeremiah, 4th, 203. 
John, 21, 23, 126. 
John, Jr., 51, 92. 
Col. John, 150, 153. 
Jonathan, 87. 
Jonathan, Jr., 150. 
Joseph, 42, 50. 
Joseph, Jr., 74, 104, 150. 
Joseph, 3d, 185. 
Joseph E., 418. 
Joseph, son of John 4th, 500. 
Jotham, 153. 
Mrs. Lancey, 128, 350. 
Mabel, merchant and sailor,509. 
Moses, 62, 75, 116, 153, 165. 



Littlefield, Moses, Jr., 186, 243, 411. 

Nahum, 500. 

Nathan, 42, 78,103,104, 360, 362. 

Nathaniel, 341. 

Nathaniel, Jr., 247, 357. 

Gen. Noah, 152, 

Obediah, 127, 157. 

Oliver, 327, 335, 375. 

Orin R., 503. 

Reuben, 104, 258. 

Richard, 335. 

Roger, 103. 

Samuel, "Fat Sam," 42, 49, 82, 
136. 

Samuel, Jr., 61, 67, 76, 86, 94, 
101, 116, 124, 136, 157. 

Samuel, 3d, 116, 124. 

Capt. Samuel, Jr., 350, 364, 
411, 460, 468. 

Samuel (Wells), 61. 

Sarah, 343. 

Seth, 228. 

Thomas, 50. 

Thomas L., 128, 133. 

Tristram, 438. 

Webster, 364. 

William L., 245, 343, 354, 364. 
Littlefield's Mills, 42,66,104,166,309. 
Lock, construction of, 383; discon- 
tinued, granite blocks from 
utilized, 385. 
Locke, J. S., author of "Shores of 
Saco Bay, Maine," 5. 

Jacob T., .503. 
Lockwood, Rev. George A., 324. 
Lombard, S., 423. 
Long, Rev. E. H., 331. 
Long House, 336. 
Long Store, 131, 133. 
Longfellow, Stephen, 186. 
Look, Elizabeth, 50. 

John, 61, 68, 76, 82, 85, 91, 93, 
203, 353. 
Lord Families, 522. 

Abigail, 523. 

Augusta, 523. 

Benjamin, 151, 525. 

Benjamin Meeds, biography of, 
522, 625. 



XIX 



Lord, Betsey, 523. 
Charles, 623. 
Daniel C, 524. 
Daniel W., 301, 302, 404. 
David, 3.35. 
Dominicus, 111, 114, 118, 134, 

151; biography of, .524. 
Capt. Dummer, 241. 
Edmund, 110, 133, 2.53, 421, 524. 
Edward W., 452, 4.53, 523. 
Elizabeth, 524. 
Elizabeth C, 524. 
Frances A., 524. 
Francis A., 416, 523. 
Frederick, 524. 
Capt. George, 134, 177, 249, 

367, 368, 382, 411, 422, 523. 
George Callender, 368, 524. 
George C, 488, 523. 
George VV., 524. 

Hartley, 243, 337, 338, 355, 362, 

368, 521, .524. 
Henry C, 524. 
Hepsea, 235. 
Hepsibah, 523. 

Isaac, 132, 191, 338, 347, 415. 

Isaac, Jr., 347, 422. 

Ivory, 352, 481, 524. 

Capt. Ivory, 134, 177, 249, 305, 

367, 382, 411, 422, 510,523,524. 
James, 78. 
James, Jr., 338. 
James, son of Isaac, 347, 422. 
Jeremiah, 294. 
John A., 363, 375, 524. 
Capt. John Clement, .360, 506. 
Joseph, 524. 
Kate M., 524. 
Louisa, 524. 
Lucy, 523. 
Lucy Hayes, 523. 
Lydia, 118, 524. 
Marion E., 524. 
Mary, daughter of Benjamin 

Meeds, 525, 529. 
Mary, daughter of Dominicus, 

118, 524. 
Mary C, 524. 
Mehitable, 523. 



Lord, Miss, teacher, 369. 
Nancy, 527. 
Nathaniel, 523, 525. 
Olive, 524. 

Robert W., 358, 361, 524. 
Samuel, 208, 241, 411, 471, 623. 
Samuel B., 341. 
Sarah C, 524. 
Susan, 522, 526. 
Susanna, 118, 524. 
Capt. Thomas, 243, 302, 388, 

423, 524, 525. 
Tobias, 142, 151, 522, 524. 
Tobias, Jr., 133, 134, 152, 358, 

.523, 526. 
Tobias, 3d, 240, 422, 523. 
William, 302, 338, 361, 373, 377, 
379, 411, 412, 415, 416, 419, 
421, 423, 443, 450, 523, 524. 
William C, 339, 424, 524. 
William F., 339, 377, 424, 523, 

624. 
William H., 524. 
Capt. William, Jr., 305, 313, 
319, 343, 356, 525. 
Lottery of rights granted, 74, 375. 
Love Lane, 356. 
Lovewell's War, 60. 
Low, H., 238, 
John, 65, 85. 
John (Lyman), 230. 
Capt. John, 110, 133, 134, 185, 
226, 230, 241, 258, 318, 399, 
4.50, 456, 462. 
Samuel B., 128, 353, 360, 414, 

419. 
William, 318. 
Low's Line, 86. 
Lowd & Rogers, 2.39. 
Lowell, George P., 332, 342. 
Marshall, 503. 
Mrs. Marshall, 530. 
Lower Road, 106. 
Luis, William, 239. 
Lyceums, 449. 

Lygonia Patent, 6, 21, 30, 31; pur- 
chase of, 10. 



Lyman, land embraced in town of 
sold by an Indian sagamore, 
44; incorporated under name 
of Coxhall, 4o; favors a sea- 
board town as a recording 
district, 188; town meeting 
held to declare against the 
War of 1812, 224; log cabin 
in county celebration, 304; 
town of included in Arundel 
Circuit, 329; post office es- 
tablished in, 406. 
Rev. Isaac (York), 230, 358. 
Dr. Job, 358. 

Theodore, 71, 118, 336, 358, 
365; biography of, 525. 

Lynch, Philip, colored, 507. 

Lynde, Simon, 3G. 

Lyon Hill, Sanford, 66. 



Maddox, Henry, 78, 80, 125. 

Henry, Jr., 150. 

John, 82, 101, 125, 126, 204. 

John, Jr., 157, 204. 

Mary, 204. 

Palsgrove, 204. 

Sarah, 126. 
Magner, John, 150. 
Mail, carried on horseback, 105, 
406; in passenger wagon, 105; 
in passenger coach, 119; car- 
rier to Eastern Depot, 347. 

Route, Portland to Portsmouth, 
105, 119; Boston to Portland, 
119, 407, 408; new one estab- 
lished in York County, 405. 
Main Street, a forest, 129; trees 
clearedaway on, 131; hillock 
cut down on, 335. 
Maine, history of commences, 2; 
domestic animals first im- 
ported into, 6; first organ- 
ized government in, 7, 181; 
first organized court in, 8, 
181; prescribed religion of, 
8; Province of, why so called, 
8; counties in Province of, 9; 



Maine, wars in England cause polit- 
ical changes in, 9-13; pur- 
chase of by Massachusetts, 
16; District of, embraced in 
York County, 182; mihtia 
laws, 267; separation of from 
Massachusetts discussed, 
281-288; population of, 283, 
288, 439; counties in District 
of, 288; created a State, 288; 
constitution framed, 288; 
first election for Governor 
of, 289; first legislature or- 
ganized in, 289; first news- 
paper printed in, 538. 
Quarrying Association, 403. 

Maling, Moses C, 363. 

Manson, John S., 504. 

March, Hannah, 535. 
Jesse, 259. 
Mary, 525. 

Marine Items, 385. 

Marketing in the early days, 426. 

Markoe, Doctor, 418. 

Marsh, Henry, 198. 
Joseph, 40, 131. 
Rev. Mr. (Sanford), 307. 

Marshall, Nathaniel G. (York), 182. 

Martial Music School, 237. 

Martin, Lewis, 472. 
Richard, 97. 

Maryland Ridge, grants at, 46; 
stage road over, 105, 106; 
iron ore found at, 178; parade 
ground at, 209; sharpshoot- 
ers at, 237; town meeting at, 
292. 

Mason, Capt. John, 5. 

Masonic Hall, 346-348. 

Massabesic, 66. 

Massachusetts, claim of, 11; politi- 
cal troubles of, 13; Maine 
purchased by, 16; Colony 
opposed to Home Govern- 
ment, 140; commissioners of 
organize a court, 182; separa- 
tion of Maine from, 281-288. 



XXI 



Maxwell, John, 153. 

Lyman, 603. 
Mayall, James, 229, 241, 374. 

John, 237. 
Mayo, Benjamin, 413. 

John G., 413, 414, 422. 
McArthur, Arthur (Limington), 188. 
McCrillis, Daniel, 186. 
McCulloch, Adam, 230, 305,411,450. 
Adam, Jr., 504, 505, 507. 
Hugh, 172, 178, 382, 399, 411, 

523. 
Hugh, Jr., 449, 450, 475. 
Louisa, 523. 
McDonald, John (Limerick), 230. 
McGregor, Elias, 325. 
Mclntire, Rufus (Parsonsfield), 289, 

297, 298. 
McKenney, Aaron, 274. 
Mechanic Street, 354, 419. 
Meeting-house, court held in, 185; 
political convention held in, 
226; first town meeting held 
in, 294; first erected in the 
parish, 309. 
Mellen, Chief Justice, 533. 

Prentice, 186. 
Mendum, A. Warren, 295, 343, 364. 
George, 295, 375. 
Mary, 524. 

Nathaniel, 110, 244, 247, 253. 
Samuel, 237, 242, 354, 356, 365, 
411, 445, 524. 
Merrill, Daniel, 179. 
Jonas, 331. 
Jonas F., 504. 
Merrill's Mills, 414, 420. 
Meteoric Shower, 440. 
Methodist Church, Alewive, 327. 
Landing, 331. 
Village, 328; site of, 359. 
West Kennebunk, 330. 
Meeting, first in the vicinity, 
327; first Conference held in 
the village, 328; first sermon 
preached in Maine, 329; first 
class formed in Kennebunk- 
port, 329. 
Meeting-house, Saco Road, 329. 
Parsonage, gift of, 328, 355. 



Middle Falls, 87. 
Mildram, Samuel, 237. 
Mile Brook, One, 129, 160. 
Four, 8«. 

One, Two, Three and Four, 197. 
Mile Spring, 65, 159, 529. 
Military Reviews, 474. 
Miller, Andrew, 239. 
Jeremiah, 126, 239. 
John, 239. 
Milliken, Heard, 410. 
Mills burned by Indians, 39, 43, 67, 
79, 166; method of building, 
89; privilege of owned by 
shareholders, 89; legend of 
the Cat, 90. 
Bartlett's, 43. 
Burnt, 79. 
Cat Mousam, 87. 
Conant's, 70. 
Goflf's, 429, 435. 
Hewitt, 375. 
Jeflerds & Gillpatrick, 241, 247, 

374. 
Littlefield's, 42, 66, 104,166,309. 
Mayall & Radcliflfe, 227, 237, 

239, 242, 374. 
Merrill's, 414, 420. 
Middle, 88, 166. 
Mitchell's, 433. 

Nason's, destroyed by fire, 228; 
carding mill swept away, 434. 
Pike's, 104. 
Sayword's, 33, 341. 
Selectmen's, 88. 
Storer's, 40, 67, 129, 131, 166, 

309. 
Walker's, 42. 
On Alewive Brook, 93. 
On Branch River, 104. 
On Great Falls, 46, 65, 166. 
On Little River, 43, 127. 
On Mousam River, 34, 40, 129, 
371. 
Ministerial Lot, grant of, 81, 101. 
Ministers, Association of, 228. 
Mitchell, Daniel, 239. 
David, 154. 
Dummer, 239. 



XXII 



Mitchell, Ebenezer, 165. 

Dea. Elisha L., 526. 

Ellen, 526. 

Ephraim, 239. 

E. Furber, 107, 503, 507. 

George E., 526. 

James, 107. 

John, shipbuilder, 69, 78, 79, 
100, 150, 153; biography of, 
525. 

John, "Cooper," 104, 107, 127, 
410; biography of, 526. 

Mrs. John, 354. 

Jotham, 79, 526. 

Merriam, 528. 

Samuel, 159, 165, 179, 185. 

Samuel, Jr., 302, 329, 335. 

Rev. William H., 331, 493, 526. 
Mitchell's Wharf, 69, 167. 
Monroe, President, visits Kenne- 

bunk, 263. 
Monts, Sieur de, French discov- 
erer, 2. 
Moody, Daniel, 240. 

Eliza M., 448. 

George B., 448. 

Horatio, 367. 

James E., 504, 505. 

John, 500. 

Joseph, 223, 231, 241, 248, 289, 
295, 343, 364, 484, 526. 

Joseph G., 266, 340, 344, 357, 
364, 411, 416, 421. 

Maria, 533. 

Samuel, 205. 

William (Saco), 289. 

William H., 504, 505. 
Moody's Line, 205. 
Moore, John, 62. 
Morey, Nicholas, 50. 
Morrill, Nahum, 194, 284, 287, 289. 
Morrison, Benjamin, 153. 

Josiah, 153. 

Lydia, 93. 

Nathan, 61. 
Morse, Dr. J. H., 422. 
Morton, Dr. Edward W., 295, 367, 
452, 524. 



Mount Desert, sea serpent discov- 
ered at, 395. 
Mousam, orthography of, 442. 

Hall, 358; soldiers' tablet in, 
508. 

House, 347, 424, 442. 

Lodge, L O. O. F., 477. 

Manufacturing Company, 113, 
372. 

Navigation Company, 375. 

River, original course of, 19 ; 
lower dam on, 19, 129, 170; 
canal, 19, 170, 377; misnamed 
Cape Porpus, 28; water pow- 
er, 33, 39, 84; first mill built 
on, 33; mill grants, 33, 367; 
upper dam on, 34, 35, 37, 41, 
129; "The Gut" in, 40; 
wading places on, 40, 62, 
115, 341; Landing, 46, 133, 
163, 166, 170, 226; mill 
pond, 65, 131, 155, 341; 
bridge over, 113, 114, 162, 
438; island in, 114, 178; ship- 
building on, 133, 167; first 
vessel on, 166; mills on swept 
away by freshet, 167; gondo- 
las employed on, 172, 226, 
262; petition to Legislature 
for straightening, 377; peti" 
tion to Congress for monu- 
ment in harbor of, 381; 
legend of, 428; dam swept 
away on, 434. 

Sandford formerly called, 30. 

Schoolhouse, 483. 

Village founded, 34. 
Muchmore, Hannah, 224. 
Murch, Charles, 305. 
Murphy, Mehitabel, 352. 
Murray, Mrs., teacher, 420. 
Mussell or Mussey, Thomas, 25, 

35, 85. 
Mystic Lodge, No. 19, K. of P., 328. 

Nampscoscocke, Indian name of 

Wells, 24, 63. 
Nash, Isaac, 62. 



XXIII 



Nason, Capt. B., 207. 

Rev. Charles, 328, 503, 505. 

Charles H., 503. 

Capt. Daniel, 239, 307. 

Daniel, Jr., 356, 442. 

Edward, 228, 239. 

Mrs. Eliza, 207. 

James N., 339. 

John, 239. 

Mrs. Joseph T., 354. 

Capt. Joshua, 152, 

Mrs. Mehitabel, 356, 442. 

Moses, 418, 434. 

Noah, 207. 

Noah, Jr., 338. 

Tobias G., 339. 

Tobias S., 335. 

William B., 251, 421. 

Capt. William B., 356. 

Capt. William B., Jr., 367. 
Nason' s Mills, 42, 228, 240, 249, 

413, 418, 434. 
Neal, John (Portland), 403. 
Nevins, Mr., 521. 
New England, by whom named, 4. 

Primer, expurgated edition of, 
532. 
New Gloucester, Me., 271. 
New Hampshire, first president of, 

536. 
New Somersetshire County, 9. 
New York City and Kennebunk- 
port Granite Company, 404. 
Newburyport, 106, 169. 
Newfield, 304, 405. 
Newspaper, first printed in York 
County, 211; first printed 
in Kennebunk, 211; second 
printed in Kennebunk, 212; 
first printed in Saco, 213. 
Newspapers, number printed in 

1828 in the State, 436. 
Nichols, Rev. Dr., 289, 317, 320. 

Mrs. Mary, 366. 

Mrs. Polly (Gillpatrick), 350. 

Rufus (Saco), 301. 
Nigger Ridge, 108, 110. 
Ninepin Alley, 415. 



Norman, John, 110, 153. 

North Berwick, 105. 

Northland, 2. 

Nowell, Gen. Simon, 209, 219, 288, 

289, 299, 399. 
Nubble, 2. 



Oakes, Capt. Benjamin, 417. 
George W., 339, 504, 505. 
Mrs. George W., 339. 
Oakes's Neck, 392. 

Rocks, 520. 
Oaks, Benjamin P., 500. 
Bradford, 424. 
George H., 503. 
Oare, James, 36, 38, 196. 
Obear, Rev. William P., 324. 
Ocean King, vessel, 385. 
Ocean National Bank, 232, 347, 348. 
Odd Pellows Hall, 347. 
Ogunquit, Indian name of, 63; 
stage road through, 105, 121; 
first postmaster at, 416. 
River, 17. 
Old Brick Store, religious services 

held in, 316. 
Old Snow, 297. 

Old Stump, history of, 40, 155. 
Old Tom, maker of birch brooms, 

108. 
Oldham, John, 6. 
Ophelia, first vessel to pass through 

lock, 384. 
Osborn, James, 153, 340, 412; biog- 
raphy of, 526. 
James, Jr., 242, 2.53, 266, 349, 
354, 377, 412, 436, 439, 445, 
468, 527. 
John, 3.58, 377, 411, 412, 527. 
Mary, 527. 
Mary Ann, 527. 
Pamelia, 527. 
Mrs. Pauline, 358. 
Samuel L., 247, 2.53, 357, 359, 
411, 412, 416, 527. 
Overseers of the Beach and Drivers 

thereof, town officers, 205. 
Oxford County formed, 211. 



XXIV 



Paddock, Judah, 198. 
Paine, Josiah (Portland), mail con- 
tractor, 119. 
Robert Treat, 18.5. 
Palmer, Barnabas, 253, 266, 340, 
347, 348, 355, 357, 377, 399, 
411, 416, 436, 445; strenuous 
efforts of to impound a hog, 
250. 
Lucy, 418. 
Park Street, 356. 
Parker, Carlton, 491. 

Isaac, 186. 
Paris, Albion K., 296. 
Parsons, Charles, 19, 536. 
Rev. C. F., 328. 
Edwin, 351. 

George, 19, 242, 349-351. 
Georgia, 349. . 

John U.. 223, 228, 233, 241, 244, 
245, 247, 342, 344, .346, 366, 
411, 413, 432, 446, 527. 
Joseph, 342, 344; heirs of, 115. 
Olive, 344. 
William, 220. 
Parsonsfield, 287, 347, 405. 
Passenger Wagon, first to pass 

through town, 105. 
Patten, Bryce M., 491, 
Capt. Hans, 153. 
John, 235, 241, 251. 
Robert, 367, 410. 
Paty, Thomas, 33, 78, 86. 
Paul, Daniel, .367. 

Capt. Jeremiah, 178, 231, 238, 

255, 332, 367, 368. 
Narcissa, 255. 
Paul Revere Bell, 311. 
Pauperism, discussion of, 450; abo. 
lition of "bidding off the 
poor," 451; intemperance 
cause of, 455. 
Peabody, Abigail, 71. 

Family, biography of, 527. 
Isaac, 71. 
John A., 71. 
Seth, 70. 
Pease, Rev. Mr., ;326. 



Pearson, Edmund, 113. 

Eliphalet, 238. 
Pellion, John, 132. 
Penny, Benjamin, 153. 
People's Party, 297. 
Pepperell, Sir William, 514, 521. 
Pepperelborough (Mollis), 172, 185, 

368. 
Perch Rock, 398, 400, 401. 

Wharf, 398. 
Perkins, Abner, 239. 

Benjamin, 350, 424, 529. 

Charles C, 337. 

Charles C. (Kennebunkport), 
392, 524. 

Capt. Clement, victim of 
pirates, 388, 529. 

Daniel, .529. 

Capt. Eliphalet, 243, 383, 393, 
437, 440. 

Eliza, 629. 

Ezra, 352, 529. 

Frank, 351. 

Capt. George, 1.32, 135, 220, 
342, 343, 350, 352, 388, 525; 
biography of, 528. 

George, Jr., 40, 111, 132, 352, 
420, 525. 

Jacob, 177, 382, 411. 

Jonathan, 235, 238. 

Joseph, 399. 

Josiah, 203. 

Jotham, 249, 349, 350, 411, 421. 

Jott S., 355. 

Julia, 524. 

Mary, 135, 529. 

Nathaniel, 418. 

Oliver, biography of, 530. 

Oliver, Jr., 90, 530. 

Orlando, 392. 

Otis, 504. 

Samuel, 530. 

Mrs. Sarah, 243, 251, 361. 

Stephen, 346. 

Capt. Thomas, 528. 

Thomas, Jr., 528. 

Thomas, 3d, 621. 

Tristram J., 521. 
Phillips, Maj. William, 6, 66. 



Phillis, negro, 108, 203. 
Phoenix Building, 415. 
Pierce, Daniel, 19, 27. 
Daniel, Jr., 20. 
Joshua, 20. 
Piers built at Kennebunk Harbor, 

398. 
Pierson, Edmund, 2.33, 237, 333, 
342, 373, 411, 417. 
Samuel (Biddeford), 186. 
Pike, Dr. Noah, 424. 
Pike's Mill, 104, 121. 
Pine District, 486. 
Pines, open-air meetings in, 277. 
Piper, Rev. Asa, 120, 2;37. 

Edwin, 486. 
Pitts, Albert P., .507. 
Plains, one dwelling-house on, 96; 
increase in population, 176, 
310; rendezvous for pigeons, 
427. 
Pleasant Street, 121. 
Plough Patent, 6. 
Plymouth Council, 1, 7. 
Poke, Ephraim, 95. 
Political Campaign, 296. 
Pond, J. Evarts, ,323. 

Marsh, 77, 198. 
Poole, Mark, 178, 382. 
Pope, Anna, 109. 
Charles O., 389. 
Micajah, 501. 
Samuel, 389. 
Popple Swamp, 82. 
Porter, Horace, 282, 335, 345, 349, 
399, 421, 468, 524. 
Joseph, 227, 234, 242, 251, 258, 

345, 355, 368, 420. 
Moses, 207. 
Olive, 524. 
Portland (see Falmouth), first set. 
tier of, 10; mail route to, 105, 
405; York shire town with, 
182; newspapers printed at, 
214, 296, 406, 436, 532; con- 
vention to create Maine a 
State called at, 281, 282, 287; 
first legislature of Maine held 
in State House at, 289; first 
church bell in District at, 312. 



Portland & Portsmouth Stage Com- 
pany, 105, 111, 119, 208. 
Road, 359. 

Saco & Portsmouth Railway 
Company, 408; first train 
run to Saco by, 409. 
Stage Company, 408. 
Portsmouth, N. H., 18, 212, 214, 
263, 275, 306. 
Mail route from, 105. 
Oracle, items from, 207. 
Postmaster, first in town, 68. 
Post-office, 131, 133, 2:34, 248, 250, 
253, 338, 344, 347, 349, 357, 
416, 527; established at West 
Kennebunk, 424. 
Road, 110, 115. 
Powers, Rev. Josiah W., 323, 491. 

Silene, 235. 
Pr:etonian Band, 238. 
Pray, Isaac C, 120, 371, 462. 
Preble, Abraham (York), 518. 
Captain, 66. 
Esaias (York), 537. 
Harriet, 334, 537. 
Judge (Portland), 537. 
Prentice, Samuel, trader and 

schoolmaster, 133, 363. 
Preston, alias Wells, 24. 
Prime, Captain, 152, 226. 
Pring, John, 507. 

Martin, English explorer, 2, 28. 
Proprietary of common and undi- 
vided lands, 54, 72; records 
of, 73, 84. 
Proprietors, ministerial lot granted 

by, 81, 101. 
Public Worship, 98. 
Puddington Island, 514. 



Radcliffe, James, 237, 374. 
Ragnos, Samuel, 152. 
Raitt, Oliver, 346, .350, 351. 
Ramanascho, quitclaim obtained 

from by Wadleigh, 24. 
Rand, Ebenezer, 128, 353, 419. 
Rand's Marsh, 26, 155, 341, 353. 
Spring, 87, 353. 



XXVI 



Rankin, James, 93. 

Rankin's Creek, 83, 84, 87, 120. 

Rasle, Sebastian, French Jesuit, 199. 

Raven, Mary, 116. 

Rawson, Edward, 28. 

Raynes, Richard C, 336, 423. 

Reckord, Solomon, 33.5. 

Reed, Albert M., 132. 

Reede, John, 80. 

Remich, Benjamin, 503. 

Daniel, 217, 295, 301, 302, 307, 
339, 358, 367, 377, 379, 401, 
402, 442, 445, 449, 450, 452, 
460, 477. 
James K., 90, 112, 215, 237- 
239, 244, 249, 252, 253, 274, 
339, 367, 405, 411, 429, 430, 
436, 450, 453, 456, 458, 532. 
Revolutionary War, 139; survivors 

of, 152. 
Reynolds, William, 521. 
Rice, Alexander (Kittery), 290. 
Dr. Ebenezer, 158; children of, 
Betty, Dorothy, Ebenezer, 
Jr., Lydia, 358. 
Patrick, .355. 
Thomas, 154. 
T. W. &Co., 132. 
Rich, Mary, 202. 

Peter, 68, 79, 83, 202. 
Richards, Caroline T., 493. 

Dr. Lemuel, 251, 252, 340, 352. 
Richman's Island, 3. 
Ricker, Anna, 103. 

Stephen, 152. 
Rideout, Alvah J., 503. 
Ridgway, Betsey, 351. 

James, 234, 351. 
Rigby, Sir Alexander, 10, 11, 21, 
22, 30. 
Edward, 22-24. 
Robbins, Rev. Samuel, 324. 
Roberts, Dimon (Lyman), 307. 
Hall, 491. 
John, 338, 351. 
Joshua, 298. 
Rev. Joshua, 324, 410. 
Nathaniel, 232, 234. 



Robinson, Charles H., 507. 

Emery S., 504. 

George E., 504. 

Mrs. George F., 367. 

Horace V., 504. 

Capt. Joshua, 255. 

Orrin W., 505. 

Ruth S., 491. 
Robker, John, 506. 
Rogers, Levi (Berwick), 183. 
Ross, Adam, 123, 137. 

Esther, 70. 

Dr. Frank M., 333, 352. 

George, .339. 

Isabel M., 493. 

James, 44. 

Capt. James, 77, 127. 

James, Jr., 133, 253. 

James L., 417, 419. 

John, 77. 

John, Jr., 150, 476. 

Dr. Orin, 341. 

Road, 70 

Samuel, 114, 240, 294, 411. 

Simon, 344, 411. 

Timothy B., 492, 493. 
Rouville, Hertel de, French Com- 
mander, 56. 
Roy, Rev. S., 328. 
Rushworth, Edward, 17, 77. 
Russell, Benjamin, 473. 

Elijah, 211. 

Joshua, 124. 
Rye Beach, N. H., 395. 



Saco, Indian name of, 3; settlement 
formed at, 6. 45; domestic 
animals brought to, 6; court 
held at, 8, 182; made shire 
town, 9, 181; inhabitants of 
summoned to court, 13; 
sold by Indians, 44; vessels 
built at, 167, 173; land at 
owned by Harvard College, 
186; petition for fireproof 
building sent from, 187; first 
newspaper printed in, 213; 
leading Republicans of, 226; 



xxvri 



Saco, disciples of Cochrane at, 272 
delegation and band in coun^ 
ty convention from, 304 
mail route through, 407 
bridge swept away at, 435 
General Lafayette received 
at, 471. 
Bay, first inhabitant on shores 

of, 4, 5. 
Path, 34, 39, 105, 114, 121, 129. 
SafTord, William, 242, 334, 348, 423. 
Sagadahock Colony, 4. 
Salmon Falls, mill destroyed at, 435. 
Salt Works, shed hauled from de- 
funct, 133. 
Sampson, James, 76. 

Penelope, 76. 
Sanders, Elizabeth, 87. 

Goodman, 21, 23, 27, 31. 
John, 18, 25, 44, 85, 95, 536. 
John, Jr., 87. 
Thomas, 87. 
Sands, Thomas (Lyman), 406. 
Sandy Hill, 104. 

Sanford, Indian name of, 30; first 
settler of, 66; town of incor- 
porated, 66; saw-mills erected 
at, 106; lumber hauled to 
Wells Landing from, 106 
iron ore obtained from, 178 
Alfred set off from, 187 
Mr. Svvett's meeting-house 
unroofed by gale in, 209; 
only one dwelling-house be- 
tween Canada and, 231; mail 
route through, 405; people 
of approve the orthography 
of Mousam, 442. 
Lyon Hill in, 66. 
Road, 110. 
Sargent, Daniel, 186. 
Harrison, 501. 
H. K., 332. 
Jefferson W., 332. 
Mrs. Jefferson W., 34, 341. 
Joseph, 164, 364, 366. 
Mary, 186. 
Savage, Jamin, 234, 346, 355. 
Rock. 2. 



Savary, Moses, 244, 245, 346, 413, 
415. 

Mrs. Susanna, 345. 
Sawyer, Nathaniel, 152. 

Capt. Samuel, 150. 
Sayer, Francis, 74, 79. 

Joseph, 51, 67, 76, 86. 

William, 50, 104, .358. 
Sayword, Henry, 32, 355, 363; 

dwelling house of, 34, 341. 
Sayword's Mills, at York, burned, 
33; built on Mousam, 33, 166; 
destroyed by Indians, 39. 
Scadlock, William, 7, 28. 
Scamman, Colonel, 151. 

George (Saco), 189. 

John, 249. 
Scammon, Mehitable, 523. 

Nathaniel (Saco), 173. 
Scarborough, incorporation of, 13; 

court held at, 182. 
School, Academical, 248. 

Grammar, 492, 493. 

High, 492, 493; first graduating 
class of the, 494. 

E. Intermediate, .356, 495. 

W. Intermediate, 495. 

Man's or Winter, 484, 492. 

Martial Music, 237. 

Mixed, on west side of river, 

486, 492. 

Painting and Drawing, 422. 
E. Primary, 356, 493, 495. 
W. Primary, 492, 493, 495. 
W^oman's or Summer, 484, 486. 
School District, No. 1, 482; Port, 

487, 488. 
No. 2, 482, 488. 

No. 3, Alewive Village, 482; 

Pine, 486, 488. 
No. 4, Cole's, 130, 482, 486. 
No. 5, Village, 364, 487, 488; 

first schoolhouse in, 352; 

records of burned, 483; 

Union Academy purchased 

by, 491; vote of to divide 

school into terms, 492; 

schools graded in, 493; 



XXVIII 



INDEX. 



School District, No. 5, public exam- 
ination initiated in, 493; 
Academy building burned in, 
494; vote to build new high 
school building in, 494; vote 
for free high school in, 495. 
No. 6, Ross Road, 487, 488. 
No. 7, 489. 
No. 8, 489. 
No. 9, West Kennebunk, 489; 

vote for free high in, 495. 
No. 10, Plains, 489. 
No. 11, Cat Mousam, 91, 489. 
No. 12, Day's, 115, 4S9. 
Schools, Private, 1.33, 139, 214, 238, 
240, 246-248, 334, 336, 337, 
349, 357, 365, 369, 412, 413, 
417-419, 422, 429, 480, 486, 
510. 
Public, 238, 330, 419, 439, 479; 
first master employed by 
town in, 97; log sheep pen 
used for, 352, 481; unique 
vote passed on, 480; first 
building in theVillage erected 
for, 483; at the Landing, 486; 
at the Lower Village, 487; 
first committee chosen for 
visiting, 4S3; superintending 
committee's annual report 
of, 492, 493. 
Scotchman's Brook, origin of name, 

38; tannery on, 343, 363. 
Scribner, Rowell, 418. 
Sea Serpent, 394. 
Seaver, Josiah W., 289, 348. 

Palmer & Co., 246, 250, 251,348. 
Second Congregational Society 
(Orthodox), organization of, 
322; dedication of church of, 
323; church remodeled be- 
longing to the, 324; parson- 
age purchased by, 324, 335. 
In Wells (Unitarian), incor- 
poration of, 98-102. 
Sewall, Daniel, 151, 187, 190, 207, 
224, 228, 230, 263, 292, 295, 
317, 320, 337, 343, 345, 372, 
375; biography of, 530. 



Sewall, David, 187. 
Henry (York), 538. 
J. M., 207. 
Lydia, 525. 
Mrs. Maria M., 345. 
Samuel, 185. 
Stephen, 212, 223, 344. 
William B., 337, 345, 347, 377, 
379, 410, 430, 448, 462, 530; 
biography of, 532. 
Shackford, Daniel, 420. 
Paul, 74, 125, 137, 436. 
Paul, Jr., 125, 153, 436. 
Shackley, Clement, 252. 
Daniel, 118, 129, 411. 
Daniel, Jr., 129, 411. 
Hepzibah, 252. 
John, 128, 129, 201, 333. 
Capt. Joseph, 128. 
IMary, 129. 

Mrs. and her goslings, 201. 
Sally, 528. 

Samuel, 100, 333; children of, 
Ebenezer, 128, 132, 249, 313; 
John, Joseph, Keziah, Mary, 
128; Richard, 128, 353; 
Thomas, 128. 
Samuel, son of Richard, 128. 
Shakers, Society of, 187. 
Shannon, Dr. Richard C.(Saco), 230. 

Mrs. Susan H., 368. 
Shapleigh, lumber hauled to Wells 
Landing from, 106; Ricker's 
mill in, 237, 241; mail route 
through, 405. 
Sharper, negro, 108, 203. 
Sharpshooters, 237, 246, 413. 
Sherburne, Rev. Andrew, 221, 444. 
Sherman, Hannah, 352, 432. 

Isaac, 153. 
Shipbuilding at Kennebunk Har- 
bor, 172. 
At Kennebunk Landing, 69, 
139, 172, 177, 382; discontin- 
ued, 384. 
At Kennebunkport, 384. 
At Mousam Landing, 133, 139, 

167, 173. 
At Saco, 167, 173. 
At Two Acres, 172. 



XXIX 



Shipping crippled by war, 175. 
Shorey, Henry P., 507. 
Shute, Nathaniel, 342, 411. 
Silsbee, Benjamin, 344. 

Samuel, 236, 243, 249, 344. 
Silver Grey Company, 240. 
Simonds, William, 338. 

William H., 339. 
Simpson, Benjamin, 208. 

Benjamin (Saco), last of the 
Boston Tea Party, 30-5. 

Henry D., 503. 

William, 365, 366. 
Sinkler, Jonathan, 79. 

Robert, 86. 
Skeele, John, 239, 242, 245, 298, 357, 

369, 370, 411-413, 448, 486. 
Skirrow, Martha, 233. 
Smart, Dr. Burleigh, 251, 252, 368, 
417, 433, 4.50. 

Nicholas E., 338. 

Mrs. Nicholas E., 338. 
Smith, Abel C, 417, 418. 

Benjamin, 302, 333, 349, 356, 
.383, 410, 421, 446, 524, 529. 

Charles, 124. 

Charles, Jr., 327. 

Elias, 276. 

Ellen, 123. 

Emerson, 501. 

Rev. Ezekiel, 328. 

Frances, 524. 

Gamaliel E. (Newfield), 263, 
284. 

Jabez, 375, 377. 

James, 123. 

James, Jr., 94, 123, 124. 

Jane, 523. 

Jesse L., 419, 474. 

Capt. John, 4, 29. 

Joseph (Dover, N. H.), 476. 

Joseph, "new light preacher," 
attempts to overturn the 
meeting-house, 276. 

Rev. Joseph C, 523. 

Louis, 472. 

Nathaniel, 123, 327. 

Robert, 340. 

Robert, Jr., 368, .373, 382, 416. 

Stephen, 251. 



Smith's Field, 356. 

Snow, greatest fall in New England, 

199. 
Social Library, 214, 446, 531. 
Soldiers, hardships of, 146. 
Sosowen, Sagamore, 44. 
South Berwick, letters of historical 
value found at, 57; Manufac- 
turing Company of, 417. 
Spear, Dr. David D., 354. 
Springer, John, 418. 
Spurwink, Scarborough, 13. 
Stackpole, Polly, 235. 
Stage Driver, first, 105. 

House, 119. 
Standlee, William, 77. 
State Militia system abolished, 445. 
Stevens, Amos, 258. 

Benjamin, 74, 115, 116, 153, 157, 
159, 204. 

Benjamin, Jr., 249, 251, 252,370. 

Charles C, 241, 358. 

Cyrus, 241, 370. 

Daniel, 165. 

Dr. ElbridgeG., 346. 

Elias, 165. 

Frank, 505. 

Frederick, Jr., 601. 

Jeremiah, 116, 153. 

Jesse M., 501. 

Joel, 117, 150. 

John, 116, 177. 

Joseph O., 422. 

Moses, 69, 115, 203. 

Moses, Jr., 116, 153. 

Orlow, 116. 

Paul, 120. 

Phineas, 240, 340, 357, 359, 365. 

Samuel, 1.50, 151, 150. 

Samuel, Jr., 351, 517. 
Stewart, Jacob, 241, 341. 

Mary, 512. 

Rev. W. C, 331. 
Stickney, Jeremiah M., 214. 

Joseph M., 344. 
Stimpson, Richard, 86. 
Stinchf^eld, Rev. Rufus H., .328. 



Stone, Abigail, 538. 

Capt. Benjamin, 172, 528. 
Dixey, 246, 370. 
Capt. Edward, 856. 
Mrs. Edward, 356. 
Isaac, 152. 

James M., 343, 347, 358, 477,539. 
Mrs. James M., 364. 
John, 411. 
Capt. John, 259. 
Jonathan, 347, 424, 442. 
Thomas, 387. 
Storekeeper, first in town, 69. 
Storer, Amos, 150, 151, 153. 
Bellamy, 535. 
Benjamin, 80, 85. 
Charles H. P., 80, 103. 
Clement, 163, 186, 301, 535. 
Elizabeth, 535. 
Family, sketch of, 534. 
Hannah, 213, 535. 
Mrs. Hannah, 79, 535. 
Hannah Hill, 534. 
Jeremiah, 50, 79, 80. 
Col. John, 39, 65, 73, 76, 80, 83, 

87, 88, 113, 363, 534. 
John, Jr., 161, 163, 213, 281, 

291, 483, 514, 535. 
Jonathan, 207. 

Joseph, 47, 62, 76, 79, 85, 89,534. 
Col. Joseph, son of Col. John, 

41, 87, 129, 131, 1.52, 350, 374, 

480, 482, 513, 5-35. 
Joseph, Jr., 131, 161, 163, 174, 

186, 190, 224, 226, 264, 338, 

341, 422, 446, 451, 471,484,535. 
Madam, 536. 
Mansion, 129, 535; General 

Lafayette guest at, 471. 
Mrs. Margaret, 354, 418. 
Nathaniel, 186. 
Sally, 517. 
Samuel, 48. 
Samuel, son of Col. John, 157, 

535. 
Seth, 185. 
Street, 341, 348. 
William C, 3.54. 
Storer' s Garrison, 59, .534. 



Strong, Simeon, 185. 
Strothers, John, 236. 
Strout, Rev. John A., .328. 
Stuart, Robert, 38, 353. 
Sugden, Robert, 219, 233. 
Sunday School, first in town, 314. 
Sunken Brook, 197. 
Swan, Rev. Joshua A., 110, 320-322, 
452. 

Mrs. S. H., gift of parsonage 
to Unitarian Society, 321. 

Street, 492. 
Swanfield, 44. 
Sweat, Rev. Moses (Sanford), 209, 

219, 430. 
Swett, Dr., 365. 
Sylvester, Rev. A. W., 328. 
Symands, Col. A. F., 474. 

Harlackinden, 20, 26, 27, 45. 

Samuel, 45. 

William, 19, 23, 540. 
Symington, Andrew, 80, 83. 

Symmes, , lawyer, 186. 

Symonds, William, 507. 



Tanner, first in the village, 333. 
Tannery, Alfred Road, 235, 245, 350. 

Mousam River, 237. 

Scotchman's Brook, 233, 238, 
333, 343. 

Shackley's, 128. 

Walker's, 126. 
Tarbox, Charles F., 309. 
Tatnick, 196. 
Tavern, Austin's, 182. 

Barnard's, 333. 

Hill, road from, 105, 106, 115; 
trees felled on, 118; thick 
growth on, 520. 

Hobbs's, 105. 

Howard's, 333. 

Jefferds's, Pike's Mill, 104; 
Tavern Hill, 104, 115, 264. 

Littlefield's, 142. 
Taylor, Asa, 340, 366. 

Daniel, 159. 

George W., 505. 

Hannah, 123. 



Taylor, Horace, 505. 
Jesse, 241. 
Col. John, 78, 124, 161, 163, 

185, 360, 536. 
John L., 501. 
Jonathan, 74, 92, 159. 
Joseph, 44, 48, 51, 62, 65, 68, 

104, 197, 536. 
Joseph, Jr., 92, 116. 
Joseph, son of Col. John, 126, 

2.58. 
Joshua, 150. 

Widow Rachel, 62, 76, 95, 130. 
William, 48, 80, 92, 93, 360; 

biography of, 536. 
William, Jr., 258. 
Maj. William, 241, 243, 251, 258, 
337, 340, 355, 360, 361,369,536. 
Temperance, Gazette editorial on, 
453; Society formed, 465; 
Sons and Daughters of, 461; 
Salus Lodge, No. 156, 339, 
449, 461; Earnest Lodge, No. 
55, 461, 
Tenney, Rev. William C, 320. 
Thacher, Abigail, 537. 

George, 154, 173, 185, 186, 318, 

530. 
George, Jr., 530. 
Peter, 334, 537. 

Judge Stephen, 110, 120, 132, 
208, 223, 226, 241, 248-250, 
265, 334, 513; biography of, 
537. 
Thing, Jonathan, 126. 
Thomas, Joseph, 109, 114, 186, 191, 
242, 245, 248, 252, 287, 332, 
343, 345, 350, 410, 446, 462. 
Thomaston, 194. 
Thompson, Capt. Charles, 368. 
Charles H., 501. 
David, 92, 125, 163. 
David, Jr., 433. 
Edmund, 92, 125. 
Edward, .507. 
Capt. Franklin N., 368. 
George, 436. 
Joshua, 4.36. 
Moses P., 239. 



Thompson, Nathaniel, 249. 

Capt. Nathaniel L., 336, 368, 

385, 524. 
Richard, 91, 101, 125, 153. 
Samuel C, 501, 503. 
Sarah, 93. 

Col. William L., 360, 363, 367, 
539. 
Thornton, Thomas G. (Saco), 297, 

334. 
Tilton, Abraham, 43. 
Tinnum, Joseph W., 421. 
Tippecanoe Volunteers, 303. 
Titcomb, Abigail, 538. 

Benjamin, 161, 185, 483, 537. 
Benjamin, Jr., 294. 
Benjamin Franklin, 538. 
Families, 537-539. 
George P., 382, .383, 539. 
James, 239, 242, 245, 364, .369, 
370, 382, 411-413, 415,416,5-39. 
Joseph, 358, 367, 377, 379, 382, 
383, 477; children of, Agnes, 
William, 539. 
Lucy, 539. 
Sarah, 538. 

Stephen, 78, 100, 246, 538. 
William, 539. 
Tolford, Joshua, 244, 346. 
Topographical Department, agents 

of, 399, 401, 403. 
Tornado of 1826, destructive, 4.33. 
Tow Cloth, manufactory of, 242. 
Towle, Nathaniel M., 351, 353, 420. 

Mrs. Nathaniel M., 470. 
Towle's Hotel, 192, 300, 433; Gen- 
eral Lafayette dined at, 470. 
Town & English, 370, 420, 421. 
Hall, erection of, 357. 
Jacob, 79. 
Jesse, 78, 101. 
Joseph, 101, 126, 153, 239. 
Meeting, vote to hold in Sec- 
ond Parish, 206, 
Samuel, 79. 
Thomas, 101. 
Treasurer, first, 295. 



XXXII 



Towne, Daniel, 239. 
Robert, 219, 293. 
Towne's Bridge, 121, 1.55, 437, 482. 
Town's Commons, 77. 

End, 18, 105. 
Tracy, Rev.Thomas(Saco),318,441. 
Trafton, Charles (S. Berwick), 302. 
Treadwell, John W., 503. 
Joshua, 489. 
Nathaniel, 153. 
Samuel, 80, 
Samuel, Jr., 153. 
Treaty of Peace with Great Britain 
closing the Revolutionary 
struggle, 146; at close of 
War of 1812 cost of express 
from New York to Boston 
for sending, 259. 
Triangle, first store erected on, 131. 
Triangular Lots, 131, 327, 343. 
Trickey, William, 367. 
Tripp, John, 258. 

Rev. Shubael, 325. 
Tucker, Davenport, 249, 266, 338. 
Jonathan (Hollis), 185. 
Sarah, 390. 

Stephen, 245, 336, 338, 390, 
406, 411. 
Tufts, Henr>', 109. 
Turbat, Peter, 44. 
Turnpike, 106, 130, 162. 
Tuxbury, David, 124. 
Two Acres, 25, 218, 392; shipyard 
at, 172. 

Union Academy, 452, 490; building 
purchased by District No. 5, 
491; loss of by fire, 494. 
Union Church, organization of, 816; 
Conference Room of, 322. 
Hall, 316, 449. 
Lace Company, 373. 
Street, 322. 
Unitarian Association of Kenne- 
bunk, organization of, 317. 



Unitarian Church, incorporation 
of, 100; first pastor of, 101, 
309; building of, 310; belfry 
erected on, 310, 352; thrill- 
ing incident connected with 
shingling of, 310; spire 
raised to, 311; Paul Revere 
bell put in position on, 311; 
curfew and ringing of bell 
for days in the month rung 
from, 311; bell belonging to, 
second in the county, 312; 
box stoves introduced into, 
312; imagination makes an 
old lady warm in, 312; first 
organ in, 312; furnace in- 
stalled in, 313; blinds hung 
to, 313; pipe organ presented 
to, 313, 319; Sunday School, 
first in town, held in, 314; 
Greenleaf controversy causes 
division in, 316; Christmas 
week-day service held in, 
318; interior of remodeled, 
319; chandeliers hung in, 
319; lower hall used for town 
and other public meetings, 
319; centennial anniversary 
of, -320; gift of parsonage to, 
321; Kennebunk Sunday 
School Society of the, 321; 
Sunday School Library of 
the, 322; Parish Library of 
the, 322; Baptist ordination 
held in, 326; records of, 531. 

United States, population in 1640 
of the, 17. 

Upper Way, 105, 106. 



Value in 1670 of one thousand acres 

of land, 87. 
Varney, Francis, 153. 

Jesse (Dover, N. H.), 89. .371. 
Moses, 245, 249, 253, 337, 348. 
411, 413. 
Vaughan, Edmund D., 503. 
Veazie, Edwin B., 503. 
James, 504. 



Verazzano, John, French discov- 
erer, 2. 
Vessel, interesting contract for 

building a, 168. 
Vessels, number built during ten 

years after incorporation of 

town, 382. 
Victualling Cellar, 386, 415, 418. 
Village Bridge, when built, 112, 

113, 131; road leading from, 

115, 129, 264. 
Pound, 204, 207, 250. 
Vinal, Rev. Charles C, 321, 477. 
Vines, Richard, English navigator, 

3-8, 514. 



Wadleigh, John, 1 ; Indian deed to, 
24, 63. 

Capt. John, 63, 127. 

Robert, 63. 
Wadsworth, Peleg, 186. 
Wakefield, Burying-ground, 362. 

Ezekiel, 151, 185. 

George W., 505. 

Gibbens, 126. 

Gilbert, 506. 

Hezekiah, 363. 

Jacob, 333, 359, 362. 

James, 49, 74, 77, 82, 100, 203, 
360, 362, 480. 

Jedediah, 87, 100, 359, 362, 363. 

John, 21. 

John, son of James, 78, 100, 
200, 203, 359, 363. 

John, Jr., 100, 157. 

Joshua, 304. 

Josiah, 74. 

Nathaniel, 78, 100, 129, 152, 
200, 363. 

Nicholas, 363. 

Patience Annable, 363. 

Rebecca, 363. 

Samuel, 137, 363. 
Walcott, Charles, 418. 

Timothy, 417. 



Walker, Andrew, 214, 241, 295, 338, 
340, 344, 345, 424, 477; re- 
ports and records of Civil 
War kept by, 498. 
Daniel, 411, 415, 418. 
Edwin, 126. 
Eliphalet, 126, 333. 
John, 116, 124. 
Capt. Luther, 386. 
Nathan T., 387. 
Palmer, 241, 251, 327, 340, 345, 

346, 411, 424, 432. 
Tobias, 126, 305, 379, 411. 
Wallace, Rev. O. H., 331. 
Wallingford, George W., HI, 133, 
185, 186, 215, 223, 226, 264, 
273, 284, 287, 295, 315, 335, 
410, 446; biography of, 539. 
War, King William's, 56; Love- 
well's, 00; French and Indi- 
an, 137. Of the Revolution, 
139-153, 497; list of soldiers 
who fought in, 150-153. Of 
1812-15, 254, 497; items of, 
225, 255. The Civil, 497. 
Ward, D., 393. 
Edward, 355. 
John T., 364, 483. 
S., 393. 
Warden, Thomas, 153. 
Wardwell, Granville, 323. 
Ware, Ashur, 289. 
Warren, Alexander, 236, 252, 348, 
356, 365, 389, 412, 423, 524. 
Block, 241, 253, 370, 415; re- 
cruiting office opened in, 498. 
David (Saco), 389. 
Edmund, 247, 295. 
Lucy Amanda, 524. 
Mary, 356, 419. 
Washburn, Thomas, 231. 
Washington, County, 154. 

Hall, religious services held in, 
326, 328, 330; destroyed by 
fire, 357; history of, 357. 
Water Street, 133, 163. 



XXXIV 



Waterborough, when incorporated, 
66; schooner built at and 
hauled to Kennebunk Land- 
ing, 385; mail route through, 
405. 
Waterhouse, Jacob, 244, 410. 
Molly, 538. 

Maj. Samuel, 123, 124, 150, 153. 
William, 124. 
Waterman, Maj. Gen., 474. 
Waterston, Pray & Co., 215, 232, 
236, 238, 241, 245, 344, 346, 
369, 432. 
Robert, 235, 349, 462, 475, 523, 
524. 
Waterville, 194. 

Watson, Chad, alias Thomas, 206. 
Lester W., 218. 
Shadrack, 83, 126. 
Watts, Francis, 237, 524. 
Mrs., 343. 
Sally, 512. 
Weare, Timothy, 252. 
Webb, Capt. George A., 355. 
Webber, Albert, 501. 
Benjamin, 150. 

District, first settler of, 92, 116. 
George T., 505. 
John, 49, 77, 86, 92, 100, 152. 
John, Jr., 150, 165, 185. 
Mrs. Johnson, 370. 
Jonathan, 101, 153. 
Obadiah L., 165. 
Stephen, 100, 247, 430. 
Theodore, 343. 
Webster, Charles H., 478. 
Charles J., 504. 

Jesse H., 504; killed by prema- 
ture discharge of cannon, 478. 
Parker, 132, 135, 357. 
Post, G, A. R., 478. 
Relief Corps, 478. 
Stephen, 247. 
Webster's Hall, 357. 
Weekly Visiter, 215, 217, 219, 254, 
260, 286, 385, 405; advertis- 
ing columns of, 232; title of 
changed, 411. 
Weeks, William, 213, .344, 



Welch, Beriah, 70. 

John, 389. 
Wells, charter of, 17; early grants 
in, 17; by whom named, 18; 
price of land per one hundred 
acres, 18; when incorpor- 
ated, 20, 24; first grant after 
incorporation, 24; Preston, 
alias, 24; Indian name of, 24, 
63; bound established be- 
tween Cape Porpus and, 27; 
common and undivided lands 
in, 54, 72, 101; garrison in, 
56; mail route through, 105; 
damages paid by for road 
laid out, 161; vessels built at, 
167; town of embraced in 
collection district, 174; court 
held in, 13, 21, 24, 182, 185; 
petition to remove Court of 
Common Pleas to, 183, 187; 
early citizens of, 197; first 
houses built at, 197; census 
in 1810 of, 221; politics of, 
222, 226; resolutions against 
War of 1812 by citizens of, 
254; separation of Maine 
from Massachusetts opposed 
by, 281; petition for town of 
to be annexed to New Hamp- 
shire, 287; early records of, 
28, 45, 54, 84, 135, 147, 149, 
196, 198, 282, 291; inhabit- 
ants, polls and valuation of, 
294; vessel wrecked in har- 
bor at, 386; sea serpent in 
Bay, 394, 396; great elm, 
landmark for incoming ves- 
sels, uprooted by tornado at, 
434; parade ground in, 474; 
richest man in 1820 in, 534. 

And Arundel Artillery Com- 
pany, 266. 

Branch, why so called, 103. 

Rev. George W., 109, 317, 449, 
460, 459, 490. 

Hartley L., 505. 

John, 81, 93. 

Joseph, 131, 423, 488. 



XXXV 



Wells, Landing, 106. 

Martha, 358. 

Nathan, 131, 423, 488. 

Nathaniel, 86, 358, 540. 

Nathaniel, Jr., 74, 153, 154, 186, 
223, 254, 483; biography of, 
540. 

Octavius, 505. 

Samuel, Jr., 131. 

Thomas, .540. 

Thomas, Jr., 50, 51, 74, 79, 540. 

William, 131, 488. 
Wendell, Isaac (Dover, N. H.), 371. 
Wentworth, Benjamin, 204, 423. 

George A., 504. 

Nahum, 204. 
West, Nicholas, 74. 
Westcustogo Falls (N. Yarmouth), 

37. 
West India Trade, vessels employed 
in, 173; falling off of, 383; 
pirates hinder, 387. 
Weymouth, George, English navi- 
gator, 3. 
Wheeler, Rev. Mr., 326. 
Wheelwright, Daniel, 185. 

George, 174, 233, 241, 301, 389. 

Rev. John, 17, 18, 534. 

John, 44, 65, 81. 

John, Jr., 116, 153, 483. 

Lucy, 116. 

Samuel, 47, 65, 78, 82, 86, 88, 93. 

Samuel, Jr., 100, 112, 152. 
Whig Convention, 302. 
White, Rev. Benjamin, 237. 

Edward, 234, 251, 399, 410. 

Store, 245, 355. 
White's Land, 205. 

Pier, 402. 
Whitehouse, Samuel, 163, 200. 

Stephen, 153. 
Whitelock, John, 211, 344. 

Nancy, 211. 
Whiting, Samuel K., 284. 
Whitman, Ezekiel, 284. 
Whitney, Daniel, 135, 234, 236, 332; 
children of, Ambrose, Harri- 
et, Horace, Leonard, Ralph, 
Susan, 541. 



Whitten, Charles P., 507. 

Capt. John, 387. 

Mary, 124. 

Seth P., 501. 

Simon L., 339, 347, 423. 
Whittum, Meribah, 125. 
Wiggin, Nathan, 351. 

Norris N., 305, 336, 342, 421. 

Parker C, 348, 351. 
Wilcox, Rev. William H., 323. 
Willett, James, 127. 
Williams, Capt. Charles, 356, 391, 
425. 

Charles W., 172, 251, 357, 524. 

Claudius B., 135. 

Mrs. Olive (York), 414. 

William, 416, 422. 

Capt. William, 339, 360, 370. 

Mrs. William, 357, 360. 
Williamson, Gov. William D., 290. 
Willis, author of History of Port- 
land, 8. 
Willows, 196. 

Wilson, Widow, children of, Benja- 
min, Hosea, Eunice, 110. 

Gen. James, political oration 
by, 308. 

Capt. John D., 229. 
Wingate, Joshua, Jr., 296. 
Winn, John, 93. 

Capt. Joseph, 153. 
Winslow, Daniel (Portland), 403. 
Winter, severest known, 145, 

Harbor, 121, 257. 
Winthrop, Governor, 22; measure 
for free schools approved by, 
479. 
Wiscasset, 194, 220. 
Wise, Daniel, 153, 364, 415. 

Daniel, Jr., 347, 416, 442. 

Emily, 332. 

George, 364, 512. 

Hannah, 518. 

Dr. John, 412. 

Mary Ann, 539. 

Michael, 92, 191, 222, 233, 238, 
248, 332, 411, 462, 518. 

William W., 266, 332, 539, 
Wise's Dock. 262. 



XXXVI 



Witham, Abraham, 345, 366. 

Jacob, 413. 
Withers, Thomas, 196. 
Wonder Brook, brickyard on, 236. 
Wood Island, 391. 

Neck, 49, 86, 510. 
Wood, Jane, 186. 
Job, 186. 

John, singing master, 235. 
Joseph G., 252. 
Nancy, 527. 
Mrs. Sally, 419. 
Woodbury, Rev. John M., 328. 
Woodin, John, 50. 
Worcester, Mass., Antiquarian So- 
ciety Rooms, Kennebunk 
newspapers in, 212. 
Wormwood, Abijah, 151. 
Abner, 131, 150, 488. 
Benjamin, 101, 150. 
Eli, 74, 150. 
Ida E., 477. 
James, l.)0. 
Jeremiah P., 504. 
John, 81, 127. 
John, Jr., 74, 150. 
Joseph, 74, 101. 
Thomas, 60, 61, 75, 93, 200. 
Thomas, Jr., 75, 82, 93, 118, 

150, 159, 203. 
William, 75, 115, 131, 488. 
William, Jr., 130, 131, 488. 
William, son of Thomas, 75, 
200, 205. 
Worth, Rev. Edmund, 114, 133, 
326, 477. 

Yarmouth, North, former name of, 
37. 

York, see Agamenticus and 
Gorgeana, 6-12; perman- 
ent settlement at, 6; 
made shire town, 9, 181: 



York, name changed to, 12; court 
held at, 9, 12, 14, 15, 31, 182; 
meeting-house built by Say- 
word at, 32; mail route 
through, 105, 121, 1.56; 
vessels built at, 167; town 
house as court room com- 
plained of at, 184; court re- 
moved from, 195; President 
Monroe at, 263; first bell in 
the county at, 312; post office 
opened at, 417; third minis- 
ter at, 525. 

County, records of, 188; first 
newspaper in, 211; number 
of towns in 1809 in, 221; 
leading Republicans in 1813 
in, 226; number of inhabit- 
ants in 1819 in, 288; political 
conventions in, 301, 302, 307; 
mail route established in, 
405; census in 1830 of, 438. 
Bank, 372. 

Bible Society, 228, 230. 
Congress, 142. 
Medical Association, 221,433. 
Temperance Society, 442. 
Unitarian Association, 318. 

Hall, 328. 

Lodge of Free and Accepted 
Masons, consecration of, 242, 
473; St. John's Day of, 473. 

Young, Job, 206. 

Jonathan, 359, 432. 
Joseph, 352, 432. 
Phebe, 352. 
Susanna, 203. 



Zion's Hill, ship timber piled up 
and hewn on, 243; one of 
the earliest settlers on, 368; 
schooner on land passage 
remained over night on, 385: 
origin of name, 457. 



111114 



■X- -<- 



V-\' 



o V 



^'^-v.. 






%^^ 



.N^ 






-^An^ 



^y .^"^ 







A' 



...V 






'b V 



'^-0^ 



.'''%. ■':^^^^ .^^ 









ICM 



-?^'' ,/' 



,-^c> 



•^0^ 

Ao^ 



